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Mason, Mormon, Muslim, Catholic

Freemason, Mormon, Catholic, Islam are all illuminati
MASONRY is a RELIGION - a FALSE cult!

All these are linked and since not are the Lord Jesus Christ - they are satan.
The image is the logo of the Freemasons. You can readily see its illuminati.

The great architect of the universe is a satanic term for GOD.

The Conspirators Hierarchy
The Committee of 300 - the Shadow government
by Dr John Coleman is an excellent book to understand whats going on on the earth.
The Committee of 300 could impose its will upon any government without exception.
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU READ THIS!
http://www.whale.to/b/300.html

There is a plan by globalists for the last US President to be a Mormon.
Mormon and Masons are the same thing.
Barak Hussein Obama is a 32 degree mason with the Prince Hall lodge.
Obama did not win the election in 2008 - putting him in power to destroy America was the plan for decades.

Freemasons, Mormons, Catholics, Islam are all illuminati.
The roots are the same.
The Orthodox and Coptic is little different than the RCC
When people discover the TRUTH behind Freemasonry and other cults, they GET OUT.

Catholic, Islam, Mormon, Freemason, Luciferian
All these have the SAME ROOTS

Roman Catholicism is far more like Islam than Christianity
BOTH Catholicism and Islam are Darkness, Satan, the devil
Mormonism and Freemason are Luciferian
Luciferianism is Satanism

There is no power of GOD in Darkness.
However, Satan has powers, and he is very real, as are his demonic forces

Freemasons
MASONRY is a RELIGION - a FALSE cult!

Why a FORMER FREEMASON CHAPLAIN LEFT MASONRY
A former Freemason Chaplain seeks a demit from the Masonic Fraternity, and details his reasons for getting out.
You will discover the truth, especially the spiritual truth, about Freemasonry, from his testimony.
http://www.cuttingedge.org/free004.html

Mormons
YOU CAN NOT BE a CHRISTIAN - and a MORMON!
The Mormon Church has no illumanati symbols but the temple garments do.
Mormon founder Joseph Smith may have been a Freemasons, his family was.
Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck are MORMON. They have sold their souls to satan.

If you really LOOK at Mormon beliefs, they are irrational.
They CONFLICT with the 66 books of the bible, the Word of GOD.

=========================

Mormon, LDS deceptions
This very well done page is by a wise CHRISTIAN man I know personally, Richard Ashton, who was a teacher in the Mormon cult until the Lord Jesus Christ saved him out of it.

Richard was invited to join the team exchanging handclasps etc at the veil of the NZ temple on both occasions he visited.
He and Ed Decker and I were both Temple Mormons. He was just an ordinary elder
but had served in a geographically huge mission district as clerk to the district president and as a bishop's clerk in a regular city congregation (called a Ward).

This page is to provide you with factual information (of which you may be totally unaware)
about a series of changes made progressively to the beliefs of the LDS church since its inception in April 1830,
through ongoing substantial changes to the actual text of publications it claims are irrefutable Holy Scripture.
We have only used attested original LDS documents, provided by God-fearing LDS folk,
and then compared that original content with more recent official LDS documents that should be essentially similar.
http://lds-deception.chatministries.org

=========================

Saints Alive in Jesus!
We are an Apologetics group, evangelical in nature and generate research and study material,
comparing groups such as Mormonism and Freemasonry with orthodox Christianity.
While our major ministry areas deal with Mormonism and Freemasonry,
you will find numerous other world religions such as Islam, as well as cult groups and issues within the Christian Church covered.
http://www.saintsalive.com

Islam
Islam honors Jesus as a great prophet, just not as the Son of GOD.
Both Islam and the RCC honor Mary more highly than she ought.
The allah that Muslims worship is satan, the god of this world, NOT the TRUE GOD.

Roman Catholic Church
The Vatican, Roman Catholic Church worships Mary.
It is full of idolatry.
It keeps Jesus on the cross instead of the risen Lord.
Where you find a catholic church you often find an Islamic mosque nearby. The roots are the same.

It is known some popes have been masons.
Since its a secret order, they will lie.
Whether or not the current pope 16 is a mason, he fully supports the New World Order.
I have heard the crown the pope wears has 666 in Roman numbers on it.

Roman Catholicism is far more like Islam than Christianity

UNKNOWN Evils of the Vatican
Vatican Dungeon Rituals at Satan's Altar, even child sacrifice!
Svali, born into the Illuminati and who witnessed a 4 year-old boy
sacrificed at her underground Vatican induction ceremony at the age of 12.
http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about3523.html

Barack Obama * Mason, Muslim, Marxist

Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim
Barack Hussein Obama is a Marxist
Barack Hussein Obama is a Mason
Barack Hussein Obama may also be the AntiChrist
Barack Hussein Obama is so much like Adolph Hitler that its chilling!
The USA has put the enemy in the whitehouse!
http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about76.html

Barak Hussein Obama is a 32 degree Prince Hall Mason
A stone was put in the wall at the Denver airport - BEFORE Obama became president.
Interesting he chose Denver - eh? hmmmmmmmmm
The NWO put 0bama in power to destroy America and bring in the NWO
http://cuttingedge.org/newsletters/070208.html

GOD BLESS Pastor Robert JEFFRESS!
Persecuted for righteousness
October 2011 I am VERY disturbed at the attacks on Jeffress! Even by Sean Hannity! The igorance of the media is absolute!
Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist of Dallas Texas bravely told the TRUTH on television.
Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and Pastor Jeffress was asked a question (which I forgot).
LDS / Mormon is a CULT. For this TRUTH he has been strongly and unjustly attacked.
I am PROUD of him for saying Mormon is a CULT! As a pastor - HE MUST speak the truth!
If you dont speak the truth, then you are part of a lie. I once attended Jeffress church and I like him very much.

Imprisoned Mormon Polygamist Jeffs imposes change on polygamous sect
1/15/12 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs may be serving a life-plus-20-year sentence in a Texas prison, but his grip on most of his 10,000 followers doesn't appear to be lessening and some former insiders say he's imposing even more rigid requirements that are roiling the church and splitting its members.

The edicts from Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, form the basis for what he's called the "Holy United Order." An estimated 1,500 men, women and children church members failed to meet the stringent standards by a Jan. 1 deadline, said Willie Jessop, a former FLDS spokesman who no longer reveres Jeffs.

Whether those members were excommunicated outright or have been put on probationary status until they can prove they meet the standards remains unclear, Jessop and others said. Some marriages have been dissolved and families split up as Jeffs works from his prison cell to reshape his church.
Since about mid-November, Jeffs' brother, Lyle Jeffs, has been conducting personal interviews with members to determine their worthiness under the new order, the former church members say.
http://news.yahoo.com/imprisoned-...ge-polygamous-sect-160155002.html

Acts 4:10-12; 1 Corinthians 15. In today's sermon we will examine the difference between Jesus Christ and the leaders of cults like Islam, Catholicism, Islam, etc. You will see the BIG difference between them is that Jesus IS alive and well, and the cult founders are all dead!

Farrakhan’s Wild New Claims: Jesus Was a Black Muslim & Elijah Would Be the ‘N***er at the Door’
Plus the Bible Was Wrong About Cain
April 2012 With a former U.S. Congressman in the audience, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan made his anticipated, controversial appearance Tuesday night at Alabama A&M University. Surrounded by a security detail of dark suits and bow ties, it was Farrakhan’s white suit that commanded the stage.
Speaking to a cheering crowd that filled most of the auditorium, Farrakhan touched on sensitive religious and racial issues while using his infamous vernacular to hammer some astounding points.

The minister began by referring to the national controversy that had been built around his appearance at the university. ”Here in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and even in other parts of the country, they didn’t like outsiders coming to disturb the plantation. So when an outsider came that master thought might upset the plantation mentality, he would threaten the slave and go, ‘don’t you listen to him, he’s a hater.’ Well you just met me! Who taught you to hate your black self? It wasn’t Farrakahn.”

On the topic of religion and race Farrakhan got personal, ”If He made us black – with kinky hair, broad nose, thick lips – if I don’t like me, how could I like the God who created me?”

Paul Gattis, a reporter for The Huntsville Times who was in the audience wrote, “[Farrakhan] also repeatedly said that it is not known if Jesus was a Caucasian, as He is typically portrayed. Farrakhan made the same point about Elijah, the Jewish prophet.”

Farrakhan referenced the Jewish Seder holiday and specifically the Jewish tradition of the Prophet Elijah’s arrival to each doorway on Passover night: “If Elijah was at the door and he was black, you would call 911 and say there’s a n****r at the door, claiming he’s Elijah! Send the police!”

Why would Jewish people be so shocked? “Because you are not trained to accept wisdom from a black person, no matter how wise that black person is” the minister explained, “Jesus was a black man.”
Most astoundingly, Farrakhan made the argument that Jesus was not Christian. “Because Jesus said ‘Not My will, but Thy will.’ You know what we call that in Arabic? Islam. He was a Muslim.”

More religious piety was to come. The controversial minister launched into a diatribe on the story of Cain and Abel, with his own additions.
“When Cain came to present his offering before God as a tiller of the ground, the scripture says God did not respect his offering. I don’t believe that. I’d like to offer a correction. Well who are you? I’m better than those who have revised your Bible. I’m better than those who have translated it out of the original tongues and revised it to fit their purpose! What makes you better? Because I am taught of God.”

A large portion of his speech targeted black education and the poor quality of opportunities for blacks in America. Farrakhan pushed the predominantly black audience to have greater achievements and goals in the world, and not be obligated to whites or Jews to find their success.

“White people suffer from the false notion that white skin makes them superior,” Farrakhan said. “And we suffer from the falsehood that the blackness of our skin makes us inferior. So we’re bowing to white supremacy and manifesting black inferiority.”

“Because most of you that have something , you have it because there’s a white person that has befriended you in some way. Am I saying the wrong thing? So they are the controller of the ceiling, and you only go as far as they permit. And in order for you sometimes to crack that ceiling, you have to genuflect, bow.”

Taking in the full message from the front row was the former Republican Congressman Parker Griffith, who represented Alabama’s fifth district in Congress from 2008-2010.

Several area pastors and rabbis rebuked the Alabama A&M administration for allowing the controversial minister to use school facilities to address the student community. Some of the faith-based leaders unsuccessfully asked for university officials to reconsider Farrakhan’s invitation. Administrators distanced themselves from the event, noting that an assortment of student groups, including the A&M Poetry Club and A&M Democrats, were responsible for Farrakhan’s invitation to come speak.

The Fastest Growing Religion In America is Islam
May 2012 Do you know what the fastest growing religion in America is? It isn't Christianity. According to the latest U.S. Religion Census that was just released on May 1, 2012, the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. The data for the census was compiled by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, and the results were released by the Association of Religion Data Archives. From the year 2000 to the year 2010, the census found that the number of Muslims living inside the United States increased by about 1 million to 2.6 million - a stunning increase of 66.7 percent. That is an astounding rate of growth. Meanwhile, most Christian denominations had rates of growth that were far below the overall rate of population growth in the United States, and some Christian denominations actually lost members. Sadly, when Barack Obama once said that "we are no longer a Christian nation" he wasn't too far off the mark. Christianity is rapidly losing influence and other religions such as Islam are rapidly gaining members and building new places of worship. As other major religions such as Islam continue to grow in the United States, it is inevitable that this will reshape America in many different ways in the years ahead.

So what about other religious groups?
How did they fare according to the U.S. Religion Census?
Well, the following are some of the growth rates for major religious organizations from the year 2000 to the year 2010....

Tim LaHaye endorses Mormonism end times bookWorldview Weekend Radio with Brannon Howse
Brannon’s guest is former Mormon Ed Decker. Topic: Glenn Beck interviews Mormon author Chris Stewart on his book that he describes as having a “spiritual element” yet Beck boasts that Tim LaHaye “was kind enough to endorse this. He read it and said it was great and I mean, I talked to him last night and he was just like, right on. Biblically it’s right on...” On Beck's website it was posted: “Wrath & Righteousness has been described by #1 bestselling author and talk show host Glenn Beck as “the Left Behind series for a new generation.” Former Mormon Ed Decker has reviewed aspects of this book written by Mormon Chris Stewart and Decker describes why he is very troubled by Beck’s report that LaHaye has endorsed this book. Topic: LaHaye’s Tribulation Force has the Pope raptured? Topic: Catholic caller calls in to explain “Catholic gospel” to Brannon and Ed who in turn explain the Biblical gospel.
Audio:http://worldviewweekend.com/world...radio/play.php?id=showsFlat-21254http://worldviewweekend.com/world...radio/play.php?id=showsFlat-21254

It was a Mormonism end times book that LaHaye endorsed(not the pagan religion itself), but nonetheless LaHaye should know better(not that I ever was a fan of him to begin with).

Mormonism has some crazy end times belief - that someone in the United States would rise from the ashes and save the country who's Constitution is hanging by a thread.

BornAgain2

Bill Murray portrays 32nd Degree Freemason FDR in "Hyde Park on Hudson"How the Great Seal Got on the One-Dollar Bill
One day in 1934, while Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace was waiting to meet with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, he looked through a State Department publication titled, "The History of the Seal of the United States."

Wallace Recollects that Day in letters he wrote in 1951 and in 1955:
Turning to page 53, I noted the colored reproduction of the reverse side of the Seal. The Latin phrase Novus Ordo Seclorum impressed me as meaning the New Deal of the Ages.
I was struck by the fact that the reverse side of the Great Seal had never been used. Therefore I took the publication to President Roosevelt and suggested a coin be put out with the obverse and reverse sides of the Seal.

Roosevelt, as he looked at the colored reproduction of the Seal, was first struck with the representation of the
"All Seeing Eye," a Masonic representation of The Great Architect of the Universe.
Next he was impressed with the idea that the foundation for the new order of the ages had been laid in 1776 but that it would be completed only under the eye of the Great Architect.
Roosevelt like myself was a 32nd degree Mason.

He suggested that the Seal be put on the dollar bill rather than a coin and took the matter up with the Secretary of the Treasury... He brought it up in Cabinet meeting and asked James Farley [Postmaster General and a Roman Catholic] if he thought the Catholics would have any objection to the "All Seeing Eye" which he as a Mason looked on as a Masonic symbol of Deity. Farley said "no, there would be no objection."*

Don't expose Muslim atrocities
23 May 2012 MSNBC’s new golden girl was in a pickle: If someone sees a black person committing rape or domestic violence, should he report it if it makes black people look bad?
Or if Muslims see wife-beating, genital mutilation and childhood sexual abuse, should they just keep it to themselves, because saying something gives ammunition to the “Islamophobes”?

The questions appear to be simple. But they posed a challenge for the host of the new “Melissa Harris-Perry” show when guest Mona Eltahawy talked about her Foreign Policy magazine cover story about abuse of women by men in the Muslim world.

Eltahawy speaks from experience: She had her arms broken in a demonstration in Egypt and was tortured and raped in an Egyptian jail cell.
So she seemed surprised to find Harris-Perry questioning her right to draw attention to “traditions” such as involuntary female circumcision, wife-beating and childhood sexual abuse.

“I start with a little bit of trepidation in this conversation,” the host said, “in part because I know some of the critiques of this. The very idea that Western press, those that are not from these nations, who are not Muslim ourselves, who are not part of these traditions can look at your article and say ‘ahhh, look at how horrible those men, or those societies, or that religion is.’

“And that is part of the reason why, for example, we have an under-reporting of rape and domestic violence in African American communities,” Harris-Perry continued. “Because we know the violence enacted on black men by police, so we often don’t call. Right?”

Then the MSNBC host brought in Harvard professor Leila Ahmed, who questioned whether Eltahawy should have written the article at all. Not because it was false, but because it made Muslims look bad.

“You began, Melissa, by noting that some things in the African-American community are not publicized precisely because of the racism,” said Ahmed as Harris-Perry nodded in agreement on a split screen.

“Mona, I appreciate what you do,” continued Ahmed. “I would love it if – I understand if you want to get your message across. It’s an important message. But if possible [you should not] give fuel, fodder to people who simply hate Arabs and Muslims in this climate of our day.”
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/msnbc-dont-expose-muslim-atrocities

BornAgain2

Iran: Discovery will collapse Christianity
Says Turkish 'Bible' has Barnabas forecasting Muhammad's coming
5/23/12 Iran’s Basij Press is claiming that a version of the Gospel of Barnabas, found in 2000, will prove that Islam is the final and righteous religion and the revelation will cause the collapse worldwide of Christianity.
Turkey confiscated a leather-bound text, written on animal hide, in an anti-smuggling operation in 2000. Turkish authorities believe the text could be an authentic version of the Gospel of Barnabas, one of Jesus’ apostles and an associate of the apostle Paul.

This version of the Barnabas Gospel was written in the 5th or 6th century and it predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammad and the religion of Islam, the Basij Press claims.

The Christian world denies the existence of such a gospel.
However, religious scholars have said another version of the Barnabas Gospel, discovered a century ago, was written less than 500 years ago, which would post-date Mohammad.

In Chapter 41 of the Barnabas Gospel, Basij claims, is this statement: “God has hidden himself as Archangel Michael ran them (Adam and Eve) out of heaven, (and) when Adam turned, he noticed that at top of the gateway to heaven, it was written ‘La elah ela Allah, Mohamad rasool Allah,’” meaning Allah is the only God and Mohammad his prophet.

A flurry of news media reports last week highlighted a Harlem public elementary school that will become the first in New York to require students to study Arabic.

Entirely unreported is that the organization that co-created and funded the Arabic language program for the New York school, KleinOnline has found, maintains close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood while the group’s founder also started the Al Jazeera television network.

The Qatar Foundation International, or QFI, a nonprofit group financed by the government of Qatar, gave Harlem’s Hamilton Heights, a K-5 public school school, a $250,000 grant to support the Arabic program for three years.

The school’s Arabic language program was reportedly developed by QFI and the the Global Language Project.

In addition to the Harlem school, KleinOnline found that the QFI just awarded “Curriculum Grants” to seven U.S. schools and language organizations to “develop comprehensive and innovative curricula and teaching materials to be used in any Arabic language classroom.”

Those schools include Bell High School, a Los Angeles public school, and Safford K-8 in Arizona’s Tucson Unified School District.

QFI, based in Washington DC, is the U.S. branch of the Qatar Foundation, founded in 1995 by Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani.

BornAgain2

What will Romney say about this?

Mormon group shows its support in Salt Lake City gay parade
June 2012 SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Nearly 300 Mormons marched in a gay pride parade on Sunday, holding signs that read "God Loves His Children" in a unique display of support from believers of a religious tradition that has long opposed homosexuality.
"When people hear that Mormons are marching with gay and lesbian people in Salt Lake City... I think that's going to be a surprise," said Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the 2008 movie "Milk" about slain San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk. Black, who is gay and was raised Mormon, was the parade's grand marshal.

"They are fostering a level of acceptance that hasn't traditionally been there," he said.

Erika Munson, 52, a devout Mormon and mother of five, founded the group Mormons Building Bridges and led it in the annual Utah Pride Parade in support of the gay community. She had grown uncomfortable with the image of their church as anti-gay.

"I feel like this is the time to speak up. I've always felt like I was supportive in my own way of the LGBT community but I've had to keep that and my commitment for the church separate," she said, using a common term for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people.

Munson's group is not endorsed by or directly affiliated with Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mormon faith teaches that gay sex is a sin and for decades church leaders have denounced homosexuality as unnatural, endorsed reparative therapies aimed at altering sexual orientation and excommunicated some gay members.
Since the 1990s, the church also has publicly backed campaigns to block legalized gay marriage.

Church leaders have softened their stance on homosexuality in recent years, saying the origins of sexuality are not fully understood. The church also has endorsed Utah laws to protect LGBT people from job and housing discrimination and in 2010 denounced gay bullying.

The Mormon group in Sunday's parade waved signs saying "LDS (loves) LGBT" and drew cheers from bystanders lining the route, just blocks from the Mormon Church headquarters. They marched in suits and conservative dresses and were in stark contrast to the thousands of other participants.

The revelers ranged from supporters of Planned Parenthood to members of the Queer Utah Aquatic Club who danced along the street wearing only swimming suits, bow ties and top hats. A man who went by the name of Penelope Pap Smear marched in a pink dress.

Sharon Griffiths, 58, a lesbian and former Mormon who recently lost a gay nephew to suicide, said she was grateful for the Mormon representation in the parade.
"My heart is absolutely full in gratefulness that this Christ-like love they talk about in church, I see here in action today," said Griffiths, who came out in the 1970s after years of being active in the church.

Utah has the nation's 12th highest rate of youth suicide, according to a 2009 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, two teens a day are treated in Utah emergency rooms after suicide attempts, state health department data from 2008 to 2010 showed.

While it is not clear how many of Utah's youth suicides occur in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, experts say that LGBT youth are at already at an increased risk for suicide and attempted suicide, and could be cause for concern in Utah.
"I know we have a lot work to do still and there's still a lot we don't agree about yet," Black said. "But certainly, today felt like a first step in a healing process."
http://news.yahoo.com/mormon-grou...salt-lake-city-gay-010430276.html

BornAgain2

Catholics Love CCM
Why do Catholics love "Christian" rock, and yet HATE gospel tracts? Why are some of the biggest "Christian" rock musicians loved and praised by Catholics, while street-preaching, Bible-believing Christians are attacked and accused of "hate speech"?
Why? Because the modern CCM movement is only dangerous to the body of Christ! The LOST world loves CCM!
God is NOT behind "Christian" rock and roll! He will NOT use it, or bless it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vq1Yi6wQUrA

The worst case scenario has come to pass
within the Southern Baptist Convention
In 1992-1993, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) investigated Freemasonry and published A Study of Freemasonry and issued a A Report on Freemasonry which contained the following recommendation:

Quote:

In light of the fact that many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are not compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, while others are compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine, we therefore recommend that consistent with our denomination’s deep convictions regarding the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church, membership in a Masonic Order be a matter of personal conscience. Therefore, we exhort Southern Baptists to prayerfully and carefully evaluate Freemasonry in light of the Lordship of Christ, the teachings of the Scripture, and the findings of this report, as led by the Holy Spirit of God.

The study and report were produced by the Home Mission Board (HMB) of the SBC. The trustees of the HMB (about 80 people) were notified in writing of the existence of a Masonic savior prior to reviewing A Report on Freemasonry which contained the recommendation that membership be only a matter of personal conscience.Even though they had direct evidence that Freemasonry has a secret savior, the trustees voted to approve the heretical position. The report was carried before the entire convention in 1993 and approved by the messengers from the various churches. At that point, the Southern Baptist Convention, as a denomination, voted to continue to allow Freemasons to use the churches as a cover while they meet in secret in the lodge to teach salvation on the basis of imitating Hiram Abiff. Since that time, the Home Mission Board has been renamed the North American Mission Board. The NAMB distributed the report issued by the HMB after the name change. Additional evidence of the intentional dishonesty by leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention came to light in 2001. Supporting Masonic documents which were "quoted" in A Report on Freemasonry were obtained by Ephesians 5:11, Inc.. The report contains intentional misquotes of these Masonic documents which demonstrate collusion, and/or intentional dishonesty. The details are revealed in The Myth of the Christian Lodge. Source documents are available. The false report with the officially sanctioned misquotes can be found on the NAMB website. Godly people do not put forth intentional falsehood. Once falsehood is identified, they do not continue to embrace it.

Most of the churches within the convention have embraced the position and continue to allow Masons to be not only members, but pastors, deacons and teachers within the congregations. A relatively small number have taken issue with the study and report and have taken a position against Freemasonry. Some exclude Freemasons from membership. Others exclude them from leadership, as if it is acceptable for the membership to meet in the lodges and take part in ritual which teaches salvation on the basis of another savior.

Northside Baptist Church, in Indianapolis, is a representative SBC congregation which has decided to condone and even defend Freemasonry. They have done so, even though they have seen evidence which substantiates the existence of a Masonic savior. Leadership has examined copies of Masonic Monitors, including the Kentucky Monitor which states that Jesus is a savior for Christians, while Hiram Abif is a savior for Masons. The congregation has received multiple mailings over time which documented the facts. Our tract, Should we ignore their secret savior to maintain unity in the church? was provided to those on the church mailing list. In addition, Xerox copies of Grand Lodge documents which documented the existence of a Masonic savior, Hiram Abif were provided. A final letter was published in the Ephesians 5:11, Inc. newsletter and mailed to them during September, 1999. A copy of the newsletter with supporting documents which substantiate the Luciferian nature of Freemasonry and the existence of the Masonic savior may be download in PDF form. Permission is given to duplicate the document.
http://www.ephesians5-11.org/impact.htm

Ever wonder who the god of fortresses is?
Here is a quote from Isaac Newton; notice he uses Mahuzzim from the original Hebrew, and there is a connection to their disregard for women.

OBSERVATIONS upon the PROPHECIES of DANIEL, and the APOCALYPSE of St. JOHN By Sir ISAAC NEWTON.

CHAP. XIII. “Of the King who did according to his will, and magnified himself above every God, and honoured Mahuzzims, and regarded not the desire of women.”

Contemporary Bibles say “honored the god of fortresses” but Ambrose Phillipps gives a detailed explanation in his book quoted below.

Mahometanism in its Relation to Prophecy by Ambrose Lisle Phillipps (pub. 1855)

PROPHECIES CONCERNING ANTICHRIST. 191
“He shall worship the god Maozim" What is Maozim?
St. Jerome informs us that “Maozim," or " Mahuzzim," as Bishop Newton writes it after the Hebrew, signifies strongholds," "forces"
Now, the god of Mahomet was emphatically a god of forces, of strongholds, of physical force :
his implement, both for extending his spiritual and temporal dominion, was one and the same instrument, the sword.
Not the sword of the Spirit, but that sword of which Jesus Christ had declared,
“Put up again the sword into its place, for all that take the sword shall perish by the sword.

Now, Mahomet's god was the god of the sword, even the god Maozim, or, as the Hebrews read it, the god Mahuzzim.”
And who is so blind, as not to see further in this remarkable word, whether the " Maozim "of the Septuagint, or the " Mahuzzim " of the Hebrew,
a still more remarkable and wonderful coincidence between it and the name of the False Prophet ?

Write it Mahomet, Mohammed, or Muhammed, it cannot fail to remind us of Maozim and Mahuzzim.
And if we would pursue such coincidences a little further, we may find an equally striking one between the Maozim and Mahuzzim of the Prophet,
and the Muezzim of the Mahometan mosques.
The Muezzim amongst the Mahometans are criers, who ascend the minarets of their mosques to call the people to pray to the God of Mahomet.
This coincidence had often struck the writer of this treatise, but he was glad to find that it is recognized and enforced by the learned author of a very remarkable
French work on Prophecy, " La Fin des Temps" to which the reader has been already referred;
in page xiii of his Pre- face it is emphatically alluded to, as also in the body of that learned work.
And if the reader will procure that work, he will see how ably the writer treats it.

Obama said he loved the call of the Muezzim coming from the mosques minarets “the most beautiful sound on earth.”
Our solders know well that mosques are used as fortresses equipped with guns, ammo, grenade launchers and even dungeons.

Daniel 11 whole chapter
Amos 3:11 An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.
Amos 6:8 I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.
Micah 7:17

DOES JESUS RESPECT ISLAM? NO!!!
September 16, 2010 By Coach Dave Daubenmire
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:5-6

I have watched with a great deal of curiosity the feeding frenzy created by the White House regarding the burning of the Quran by a pastor in Florida.
I am always leery of where it is the media is trying to take me.
First of all, they want us to know that Pastor Terry Jones shepherds a “small congregation” in Gainesville, Florida,
as if behavior is validated by the number of followers that one has. Evidently Joel Osteen’s version of the Gospel is better than Pastor Jones’ because he has such a large following.
I’m sure that Pastor Osteen would never do such a “hateful” thing.

You certainly realize that this whole event was driven by the White House, don’t you?
Dont you find it troubling that Obama, Hellary, Eric Holder, General Petreaus, and Robert Gates weighed in on this insignificant Pastor’s behavior?
Why would they choose to blow oxygen on that small pyre?
Obama ignores appeals for his birth certificate but speaks out on a small-potatoes pastor?
Tell me you are not that stupid.

It didn’t happen by accident. I would say that there is a direct connection to the Ground Zero Mosque and the White House’s attempt to show us how intolerant Christianity is.
“You see now don’t you? Christians can be radical too, but they dont represent all of Christianity.
It is a fringe group. Most Christians are moderate and tolerant.
CJ NOTE - Tolerant 'christians' are NOT CHRISTIANS! Read this - http://cj.myfreeforum.org/about985.html

A true Christian is willing to die for his faith, while a radial Muslim wants to kill for his.
The actions of radical Christians and the actions of radical Muslims bear no resemblance.
And of course the moderate christians always jump into the media trap. They fall all over each other to let the world know that lunatic Pastor Terry Jones does not represent their Christianity.

But that is the heart of the problem - their christianity. Too many have remade God in their image.
Sadly, there are many different versions of Christianity in the world today, and each one claims to speak for God, most a figment of their imagination of Jesus.

Let me ask you a troubling question that perhaps you haven’t had the courage to ask yourself.
What if God really did tell Pastor Jones to burn the Quran? (Pardon me while I borrow a question from the leftists) “Who are you to judge Pastor Jones?” Hmm?

Certainly you can see that all of this media manipulation is an attempt to herd the sheep towards the gospel of John Lennon.
Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No Hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living life in peace. You may say that I am a dreamer. But I’m not the only one. I hope some day you will join us. And the world can live as one.

As I listened to a moderate christian talk show host this morning speak for christianity I couldn’t help but ask myself a piecing question.
Does Jesus respect and tolerate other religions?
This Methodist informed his listeners that a follower of Jesus would never show such disrespect to another person’s religion.
I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought Jesus had died for. Did Jesus die to merely share the platform with the other religious headliners?
Are His followers supposed to put Muhammad, Buddha and the boys on equal footing with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Does Jesus respect Islam? Would a follower of Jesus every burn a book?
The talk-show host said no. Most christians say no.

Ever wonder what the Bible says? Randall Terry recently wrote:
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, fire is a sign of the judgment of God. Fire came down on Sodom and Gomorrah; Moses burned the golden calf; Joshua burned cities in Canaan; God ordered enemy chariots and “sacred” pagan idols to be burned in fire; Elijah called fire down to consume military men who came to capture him; when Israel forsook God, God brought the Babylonians to burn Jerusalem – including its palaces and Solomon’s temple – to the ground.

Christ said, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 3:10
I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! Luke 12:49

In Acts 19, Paul orchestrated the burning of books on witchcraft which “mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”
I guess, as followers of Jesus, the issue we are going to have to come to grips with is whether or not Jesus was who He said He was.
If the Bible is true, then Islam is a lie. If the Bible is true, Darwin was a fool. If the Bible is true, there are no other “holy” books. If the Bible is true.

Would you object to the burning of the Satanic Bible, or are Christians supposed to “respect” and “tolerate” it as well?
Which book has led more people to hell, the Satanic Bible or the Quran? THE QURAN!
Would Jesus respect the Satanic Bible? Does Jesus respect the Quran? NO!

Secularism has crept into our churches. Most christians judge behavior by secular standards.
Standing up for Jesus in the public square has become intolerant and certainly no good christian would want to violate that most important of all secular-commandments.
WWJT…What Would Jesus Tolerate…that is the question Christians should be asking ourselves.
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20
No other gods…I guess there are other gods beside Jesus…and He made His position on them very clear.

Here is the point. If religion is merely to be used as a set of values by which we live our lives, then I suppose it doesn’t matter which one you choose.
But if heaven and hell are real, and there really is life beyond this world, then “religion” takes on a whole new perspective. C
hristianity is not a popularity contest and it is certainly more than a life-enhancing philosophy.

If the Bible is true, then all other roads lead to hell. Christianity has a cross at one end and an empty tomb at the other.
Jesus was very intolerant…I AM THE WAY…NO OTHER GODS.
Would Jesus burn a Quran? He does promise to burn souls.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20.

I think it is time Christians stopped worrying so much about being nice and started being honest.
Does Jesus respect Islam or is He jealous? It would behoove us to know the correct answer.
Do you think like a Christian or a humanist? Did the Founders really separate Church and State?
http://www.newswithviews.com/Daubenmire/dave208.htm

RESPONSE from mayito7777

My point of view on this issue

The Bible says:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The Koran calls for the death of Jews and Christians, curses them and hates them and promotes this hatred towards us who believe in the true God.

The Bible says:
1Cr 16:22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

Anathema coming from Strong's G331 - anathema

2) a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction

a) a curse
b) a man accursed, devoted to the direst of woes

The Lord hates the cursed things, orders to destroy them. Is the Koran a cursed thing? Of course it is, it teaches murder, hate, antisemitism, denies that Christ is the Son of God.

So in my modest opinion all those so called "christians" who have raised their voices to oppose the burning of the Koran because is a holy book are partakers of anathema, of cursed thing that was cursed by God. The Koran is a book of evil against israel, shall we join the bandwagon of those who hate the truth? God forbids. We shall stand even iif our numbers dwindled. We are here to serve Jesus Christ and Him alone. Anyone else who preaches the wrong gospel is becoming an accursed thing.

The Bible says

Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

The Koran is the accursed thing and the Bible says
Jos 7:15 And it shall be, [that] he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

.

BornAgain2

Are Mormons Christians?
The New York Times published a curious opinion piece by a devout Mormon who insists that he is not a “Christian.”
I’m about as genuine a Mormon as you’ll find — a templegoer with a Utah pedigree and an administrative position in a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I am also emphatically not a Christian.

He equivocates on what he means by “Christian.” Sometimes he seems to refer to a set of historical and theological beliefs (he agrees with Richard Land that Mormonism is “a fourth Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam”); other times to a culture of power and acceptance and behavior (“Being a Christian so often involves such boorish and meanspirited behavior that I marvel that any of my Mormon colleagues are so eager to join the fold”), and he also uses it in verbal form positively (“Mormons are certainly Christian enough to know how to spitefully abuse their power”).

One might think that a Mormon offering a strong defense of dissimilarity from historic Christianity would insist that theology matters. But that’s the opposite of this writer’s approach.

For the curious, the dispute can be reduced to Jesus. Mormons assert that because they believe Jesus is divine, they are Christians by default. Christians respond that because Mormons don’t believe — in accordance with the Nicene Creed promulgated in the fourth century — that Jesus is also the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Jesus that Mormons have in mind is someone else altogether. The Mormon reaction is incredulity. The Christian retort is exasperation. Rinse and repeat.

I am confident that I am not the only person — Mormon or Christian — who has had enough of the acrimonious niggling from both sides over the nature of the trinity, the authority of the creeds, the significance of grace and works, the union of Christ’s divinity and humanity, and the real color of God’s underwear.

Regarding the statement I’ve italicized: I understand that (1) this is an opinion piece, (2) that most Mormons don’t understand the Trinity, and (3) that many evangelicals—to use Robert Letham’s indictment—are “functional modalists”—but one would still think that the Paper of Record would flag a historical error this significant. The pro-Nicene theology emerging from the fourth century most certainly did not say that Jesus is the Father and the Spirit. That is a heretical belief.

For those who would be helped by a review of some of the key differences between Mormonism (or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and historic Christianity, I once constructed a Q&A format from the ESV Study Bible article on religious cults and sects (article available online to subscribers). It’s an attempt to be concise and accurate without being overly simplistic.

What do Mormons believe about apostasy and restoration?
Mormons claim that “total” apostasy overcame the church following apostolic times, and that the Mormon Church (founded in 1830) is the “restored church.”

What’s the problem with this understanding?
If the Mormon Church were truly a “restored church,” one would expect to find first-century historical evidence for Mormon doctrines like the plurality of gods and God the Father having once been a man. Such evidence is completely lacking. Besides, the Bible disallows a total apostasy of the church (e.g., Matt. 16:18; 28:20; Eph. 3:21; 4:11-16), warning instead of partial apostasy (1 Tim. 4:1).

What do Mormons believe about God?
Mormons claim that God the Father was once a man and that he then progressed to godhood (that is, he is a now-exalted, immortal man with a flesh-and-bone body).

What does the Bible teach about the nature of God?
Based on the Bible, God is not and has never been a man (Num. 23:19; Hos. 11:9). He is a spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). Furthermore, God is eternal (Ps. 90:2; 102:27; Isa. 57:15; 1 Tim. 1:17) and immutable (or unchangeable in his being and perfections; see Ps. 102:25-27; Mal. 3:6). He did not “progress” toward godhood, but has always been God.

What do Mormons believe about the Trinity and polytheism?
Mormons believe that the Trinity consists not of three persons in one God but rather of three distinct gods. According to Mormonism, there are potentially many thousands of gods besides these.

What does the Bible teach about the Triune God?
Trusting in or worshiping more than one god is explicitly condemned throughout the Bible (e.g., Ex. 20:3). There is only one true God (Deut. 4:35, 39; 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:18; 46:9; 1 Cor. 8:4; James 2:19), who exists eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

What do Mormons believe about human exaltation?
Mormons believe that humans, like God the Father, can go through a process of exaltation to godhood.

What does the Bible teach about humanity?
The Bible teaches that the yearning to be godlike led to the fall of mankind (Gen. 3:4ff.). God does not look kindly on humans who pretend to attain to deity (Acts 12:21-23; contrast Acts 14:11-15). God desires humans to humbly recognize that they are his creatures (Gen. 2:7; 5:2; Ps. 95:6-7; 100:3). The state of the redeemed in eternity will be one of glorious immortality, but they will forever remain God’s creatures, adopted as his children (Rom. 8:14-30; 1 Cor. 15:42-57; Rev. 21:3-7). Believers will never become gods.

What do Mormons believe about Jesus?
Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother. Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world. He was later physically conceived in Mary’s womb, as the literal “only begotten” Son of God the Father in the flesh (though many present-day Mormons remain somewhat vague as to how this occurred).

What does the Bible teach about Jesus?
Biblically, the description of Jesus as the “only begotten” refers to his being the Father’s unique, one-of-a-kind Son for all eternity, with the same divine nature as the Father (see note on John 1:14; cf. John 1:18; 3:16, 18; see also John 5:18; 10:30). Moreover, he is eternal deity (John 1:1; 8:5 and is immutable (Heb. 1:10-12; 13:, meaning he did not progress to deity but has always been God. And Mary’s conception of Jesus in his humanity was through a miracle of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20).

What do Mormons believe about our eternal destiny?
Mormons believe that most people will end up in one of three kingdoms of glory, depending on one’s level of faithfulness. Belief in Christ, or even in God, is not necessary to obtain immortality in one of these three kingdoms, and therefore only the most spiritually perverse will go to hell.

What does the Bible teach about our eternal destiny ?
The Bible teaches that people have just two possibilities for their eternal futures: the saved will enjoy eternal life with God in the new heavens and new earth (Phil. 3:20; Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5), while the unsaved will spend eternity in hell (Matt. 25:41, 46; Rev. 20:13-15).

What do Mormons believe about sin and atonement?
Mormons believe that Adam’s transgression was a noble act that made it possible for humans to become mortal, a necessary step on the path to exaltation to godhood. They think that Christ’s atonement secures immortality for virtually all people, whether they repent and believe or not.

What does the Bible teach about sin and atonement?
Biblically, there was nothing noble about Adam’s sin, which was not a stepping-stone to godhood but rather brought nothing but sin, misery, and death to mankind (Gen. 3:16-19; Rom. 5:12-14). Jesus atoned for the sins of all who would trust him for salvation (Isa. 53:6; John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10).

What do Mormons believe about salvation?
Mormons believe that God gives to (virtually) everyone a general salvation to immortal life in one of the heavenly kingdoms, which is how they understand salvation by grace. Belief in Christ is necessary only to obtain passage to the highest, celestial kingdom—for which not only faith but participation in Mormon temple rituals and obedience to its “laws of the gospel” are also prerequisites.

What does the Bible teach about salvation?
Biblically, salvation by grace must be received through faith in Christ (John 3:15-16; 11:25; 12:46; Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:22-24; Eph. 2:8-9), and all true believers are promised eternal life in God’s presence (Matt. 5:3-8; John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:3-7).
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blo...12/06/13/are-mormons-christians-2

CJ

MORMONISM / LDS IS ANTI-CHRIST, UNBIBLICAL - NOT CHRISTIAN.
They use Christian terms but do NOT have Christian meanings.
LDS, RCC, Islam are none Christian!

MORMONISM / LDS IS ANTI-CHRIST, UNBIBLICAL - NOT CHRISTIAN.
They use Christian terms but do NOT have Christian meanings.
LDS, RCC, Islam are none Christian!

The most amazing thing about this article above is that this INCREDIBLY secular, NWO NY Times actually GOT SOMETHING RIGHT concerning Christianity(and the exposing of cults like Mormonism)!

No, it doesn't change my opinion of this rag, Bilderberg-runned paper, but nonetheless it's amazing how this is a RARE occasion where they got something right for a change!

CJ

Kenneth Copeland 33rd Degree Freemason and Mormon
I have attended a Copeland meeting, and he does claim he is god. He's NOT! He is a misleading devil of deception!
I contend there is no difference between Mason and LDS/Mormon and the Vatican.

Kenneth Copeland has stated that Jehovah means Half Male/ Half Female and that God is as much female as he is male.
He claims that Adam was originally half male and half female.
MORMON Kenneth Copeland claims God and Adam were about the same height!

Kenneth Copeland is a Freemason who does not want anyone to know it.
Masons leave clues. (see articles)
Kenneth Copeland started his ministry as a pilot under Oral Roberts who was a 33rd Degree Freemason.

DO NOT EVER DO THIS! NOT EVER!!
Kenneth Copeland chants the words “I AM” which is a Masonic initiation term. He is claiming to be a God.
When Jesus told the jews before Abraham was “I AM” he was claming to be the God of Moses who went by that name.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 at 2:16AM NOTRadio
Today's Show: FREEMASONRY IN THE CHURCH (REPLAY)

On today's show, Chris talks about how freemasonry has infiltrated the church on every level. Chris goes into detail on important freemasonry writers and philosophers, including Albert Pike and Eliphas Levy, and the importance of getting freemasons out of positions of leadership in today's churches. Hear interview clips with top freemason apologist, Dr. S. Brent Morris, and former freemason and mormon, Ed Decker.

Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 4:33AM NOTRadio
Today's Show: FREEMASONRY IN THE CHURCH PART 2 (REPLAY)

Today, Chris expands on the topic of freemasonry in the church, as well as the connections with Islam and Roman Catholicism with the ideals of freemasonry. Also, join the discussion of a literal Hell and the Roman Catholic viewpoint as of the most recent doctrinal release from the Second Vatican Council. Hear interviews with Bill O’Reilly, and excerpts from Chris’s Hidden Faith of the Founding Fathers documentary.

Thursday, July 5, 2012 at 8:59PM NOTRadio
Today's Show: FREEMASONRY IN THE CHURCH: PART 3 (REPLAY)

On today's show, Chris delves deeper into the issue of freemasonry in the church. Chris talks more about the Jesuitical connection with freemasonry, and the Jesuit and freemasonry influence in America. Also, learn more about why Chris has made it a point to research freemasonry and other secret societies for the last 15 years, and why the issue of freemasonry in the church hits close to home.

Congressman: American Schools Should Be Modeled After Islam & Use Koran
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN), the Muslim congressman who once said that the Tea Party would “love” to see black Americans “hanging on a tree,” made another controversial statement during a May 26 speech. This time he gave what is at the heart of the Islamic mind and that is the indoctrination of Islam into the West.

Speaking about the American education system, Carson told the audience that American schools should be modeled after Madrassas and touted the benefits of schools that use the Koran as their “foundation.”
A Madrassa as: “a Muslim school, college, or university that is often part of a mosque.”

The congressman said,
“America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged and where the foundation is the koran.”
“And that model that we are pushing in some of our schools meets the multiple needs of students. Most of us are visual learners. Some of us are auditory learners. We learn by hearing. many of use are kinesthetic learners. We learn by doing, touching, and feeling. I have found, as my wife is a principal and I have a five year old daughter at Salema, that we need an educational model that is current, that meets the need of our students. America must understand that she needs Muslims.”
http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07...-be-modeled-after-islam-use-koran

BornAgain2

Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Deu 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Pelosi 'Swears' Spirit of Susan B. Anthony Spoke to Her in White House

8/8/12

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) told a recent gathering of the Women’s Political Committee that the spirits of suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul spoke to her at the White House.

Pelosi said she heard them say: “At last we have a seat at the table”.

A video recently posted on Youtube shows Pelosi speaking in May describing her first meeting with President Bush in the White House after becoming part of the Democratic House leadership.

In the video Pelosi says, “He’s (Bush) saying something to the effect of we’re so glad to welcome you here, congratulations and I know you’ll probably have some different things to say about what is going on--which is correct. But, as he was saying this, he was fading and this other thing was happening to me."

“My chair was getting crowded in," said Pelosi. "I swear this happened, never happened before, it never happened since."

"My chair was getting crowded in and I couldn’t figure out what it was, it was like this," she said.

"And then I realized Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, you name it, they were all in that chair, they were," said Pelosi. "More than I named and I could hear them say: 'At last we have a seat at the table.' And then they were gone."

This was not the only time Pelosi has told this story. On June 6 of this year she told it during an event celebrating her 25 years of political service.

Pelosi has also told the story when speaking at colleges, including at Trinity Washington University’s commencement on May 20, 2012. Pelosi's website contains a transcript of the tale as related in her 2005 commencement address at Goucher College in Baltimore.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were activists in the women’s rights movement during the mid to late 1800’s. The Susan B. Anthony List, which works for pro-life women’s leadership in government, uses her as a namesake. The organization claims Anthony and Stanton were strong pro-life supporters.

Christian girl faces death for 'desecrating' Quran
Furious mobs surround home
8/20/12 (LONDON DAILY MAIL) An 11-year-old girl thought to suffer from Down’s Syndrome is facing the death penalty in Pakistan for apparently burning pages from the Koran.
Furious mobs of Muslim locals gathered outside the home of Christian girl Rifta Masih after she was found with charred pages of the Islamic holy book.
She was arrested and has been held in custody for the last 14 days under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. A conviction could see her executed.
Read the full story ›
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a...y-desecrating-Koran-Pakistan.html

BornAgain2

Who knows how mainstream-accepted Mormonism will be in the imminent future.
When I was a boy in the 80's, it was mocked(and for GOOD reason). Now it seems like not anymore little by little...

Marriott Hotels Thanks Romney for Bringing Attention to Mormonism
9/2/12 BOSTON - The head of the prominent Marriott hotel chain and fellow Mormon J.W. Marriott thanked Mitt Romney today during a Mormon church service for bringing "positive attention" to the religion, which is often considered to be shrouded in mystery.
"There has never been as much positive attention to the church, thanks to the wonderful campaign of Mitt Romney and his family," Marriott said during a service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wolfeboro, N.H., the lakeside town where the Romney family has a home.

Marriott's remarks come after a noticeable shift in the campaign to highlight Romney's faith, a subject that has been rarely spoken about publicly by the candidate and his wife until last week, when both mentioned Mormonism in their speeches at the Republican National Convention. Additionally, several speakers arranged by the campaign to appear at the RNC highlighted the candidate's strong ties to his faith.
Romney and Ann Romney, who sat six rows back in the church this morning, showed little reaction to Marriott's testimony, according to a small group of reporters who accompanied the couple inside.
http://news.yahoo.com/jw-marriott...180104502--abc-news-politics.html

CJ

Lucifer and the Mormon Temple Rituals
10 september 2012 ed decker, ed@deckerreport.com
Ed Decker is a former mormon / LDS now Christian.
The Mormon Temple is the very center of that faith. While the Prophet is the link between man and God, the Temple is the link between man and personal godhood! Only in it can the Mormon gain the secret knowledge that will be the key to actually stepping into godhood.

Mormon Temples are among the most beautiful buildings in existence, with no dollar spared in creating each Temple as a showplace of beauty and elegance.
There are two types of ordinances performed in the Temples: ordinances for the living, and the identical rituals done by proxy for the dead, who then have the chance to become Temple Mormons while waiting in "Spirit Prison" for the Millennium. If they choose to accept the proxy ritual, they are then allowed to go to "Paradise", the home of all worthy Mormons who have died. The one "special" temple ritual for only the dead is water baptism by proxy. This is done because there is apparently no water in “Spirit Prison.”

The Temple and its associated "unspoken blessings" are on the hearts of every member. Either they are striving to be worthy enough to go, or burdened by deep guilt of failing this worthiness, or bound by secret pride at being one of the worthy, select few.

Having been evaluated and deemed temple worthy, I went to the temple with my wife and children to be married there and have our children sealed to us for ‘time and all eternity.”

After entering the temple and getting through the preliminaries, we were separated and led down stairs on opposite sides of the entry to locker rooms. Once arriving in the dressing area, I was instructed to remove all my clothing and strip naked. I was then given a small shoulder width, poncho-like open-sided sheet, ‘shield’ to pull over my head as a covering.

I was somewhat numb and confused as I was led to the Washing and Anointing Room where Temple workers ceremonially washed and blessed each member of my body. I moved on to the next station, where another worker anointed the same parts of my body with oil, chanting the same sing-song blessings I had just received.

I was then dressed in the "garment of the Holy Priesthood" (a basic, one-piece set of underwear). The worker instructed me that I would be required to wear this "shield and protection from the power of the destroyer" 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, except to bathe or change the garment itself.

The "garment" contained special markings on each breast, the navel, and the right knee, and would act as a mystical talisman to shield me from the power of evil so long as I would wear the garment and keep the Temple oaths. What a pity that I had no understanding of the true armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18.

The worker then whispered my secret "new name", (Joseph), which only God and I would know, and by which God would call me forth from the grave.

I was then led back to my locker where I removed the ‘shield’ and dressed in the white temple clothing and went upstairs to continue the rituals. My ‘bride was somewhere on the opposite side of the room among a group of veiled women.

The rest of the rituals involve learning a series of secret passwords, handclasps, Tokens, penalties that were fully Masonic in their origin. We were then led in swearing to a number of covenants that bind the initiate to absolute obedience to the LDS church president who is the prophet, seer and revelator and to the holy priesthoods and their powers.

It wasn’t until after I became a born again Christian and renounced the blood oaths I swore in the temple that I could look back at this bizarre ritual and its Masonic roots as being extremely occult, irrevocably tied directly to Lucifer, who in Mormonism, is the brother of Jesus.

What struck me to the core was that the talismanic markings on my secret/sacred undergarments were the exact same markings on Lucifer’s Apron, as he taught Adam and Eve in the “Lone and Dreary World” part of the ritual. He tells Adam that those markings are the emblems of his power and priesthoods. Yes, the very same markings that I now had next to my bare skin.

Later in the ritual, I stood at the veil I must pass through to get to the celestial room and be finally united with my wife. I was pressed against the veil, placing my arms through slits in the holy veil that were the exact markings on my garments and on Lucifer’s Apron. Remember that they are the emblems of Lucifer’s power and priesthoods.

In that position, I embraced a man on the other side of the veil portraying the Lord and was tested to be sure I could execute all the handclasps, recite all the secret words and agree again to the penalties. As I pressed my breast against his, my talisman markings were pressed against his, sealing in all those oaths.

As I stood, foot to foot, knee to knee breast to breast, hand to back and mouth to ear, I whispered: Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and in the sinews, power in the Priesthood be upon me, and upon my posterity through all generations of time, and throughout all eternity.

It was, again, after I had had renounced those things of darkness that I realized that I had called down and submitted myself and my posterity for the generations to the power and priesthoods of Lucifer, that devil whose emblems I now wore on my body and swore to do the same 24/7 for the rest of my life.

Later, in the marriage, or sealing ritual, my wife, children and I had the sealed upon us those same “powers and principalities” that Ephesians, Chapter 6 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Romans 8 says that these are such that would separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Twice during the ritual, Lucifer warns the Mormon so engaged that he is the power within the ritual. Once he brags: “Now is the great day of my power. I reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth. There is none who dares to molest, or make afraid.”

Later on, he pronounces this curse upon all attendees: “I have a word to say concerning these people. If they do not walk up to every covenant they make at these altars in this temple this day, they will be in my power!” Of course, no one could keep every part of every covenant, and by his mouth to their ears, they are his.

What chance does the Mormon have against the spiritual powers of darkness after having submitted to such dark things? The Scriptures tell us that they are led to damnation by their leaders (Isaiah 9:16), and that they don't know enough to be ashamed (Isaiah 44:9).

Yes, the Mormon people are blinded by this dark thing. But Christ came to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind! (Luke 4:18.) Someone like you shared the light with me. It is given to be shared!

I have only scratched a tiny bit of an evil surface. For a week beginning On Monday, September 10th, 2012 I will be taking the listeners on my program, The Decker Report, through the Mormon Temple ritual, itself. What I have shared here is just a small portion of the occult things that transpire within those beautiful, deceptive walls. Please go to www.deckerreport.com and listen to my program, “The Temple of the God Makers” and be sure to download the support documentation. The program is also downloadable to any number of electronic devices.
http://www.saintsalive.com/resour...fer-and-the-mormon-temple-rituals

CJ

The Mormon Manuscripts and The Massive Mormon Scripture Mess
SEPTEMBER 2012 With Ed Decker
Continuing his 4 week teaching on the base errors of Mormonism, using material from his series, The Mormon Manuscripts, Ed simply and thoroughly opens up the LDS Scriptures to Biblical analysis and they clearly prove to be false works of an a highly imaginative false prophet.
http://www.deckerreport.com/the-m...the-massive-mormon-scripture-mess

BornAgain2

Obama Rebuilds Mosques While Churches Burn
9/26/12 While Christian churches are being destroyed on a near daily basis in Muslim countries throughout the world, the Obama administration is investing millions of dollars to rebuild overseas Islamic mosques and minarets. According to the State Department, the mosque restoration program, first reported on back in 2010, is a “cultural preservation” project designed to “fight Islamic extremism by building relationships with Islamic leaders.” To that end....
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/fran...uilds-mosques-while-churches-burn

All-Seeing EYE in Church
was viewing a sermon recently and BAMM! There is was…an all-seeing-eye in the middle of the ALTAR of the church behind the pastor who was speaking the sermon!! The picture below is the well-known TV/radio pastor, evangelist, author David Jeremiah speaking to his congregation at his home church in San Diego, California. The church is named Shadow Mountain Community Church.
This pastor/agent of Satan was David Jeremiah.
http://mysteryoftheinquity.wordpr...11/09/10/all-seeing-eye-in-church

BornAgain2

Fears over revival of mega-mosque plan
9/5/12 An Islamic group will this week relaunch its bid to build a 12,000-capacity “mega-mosque” next to the Olympic site.
The Tablighi Jamaat group, a Muslim missionary movement once described as an “ante-chamber of fundamentalism”, wants to build Britain’s biggest place of worship in West Ham.

It will have 40ft minarets, a library, a visitor centre and a 300-space car park at the Canning Road site. The scheme has aroused years of intense opposition since the group first submitted plans in 1999. In 2001, it agreed that worship would only be on a temporary basis. Permission expired in 2006 but the group continued to use the site.
In 2010, the council issued an enforcement notice but it successfully appealed against it last year and more than 5,000 people a week now worship at the site which houses several pre-fab buildings.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lo...l-of-megamosque-plan-8106304.html

Afghan Man Brutally Decapitates Wife for Adopting Canadian Values
10/10/12 Randjida Khairi was stabbed five times in her chest and back. She had her throat cut, a wound so ugly and deep that it sliced through her neck muscles, voicebox and windpipe — stopping only at her spine. She was stabbed with two different knives. She drowned in her own blood; a process a pathologist would later determine took between five and 10 minutes. Police discovered Ms. Khairi’s body lying on a bloody cot in her family home, a 16th floor apartment in the northwest corner of Toronto...
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012...s-in-alleged-honour-killing-trial

BornAgain2

Radford offers course on reaching out to dead
10/22/12 Some students at Radford University are learning about the afterlife by trying to communicate with the dead.The independent study course features a bedroom that students have converted into a chamber called the psychomanteum. Professor of religious studies Susan Kwilescki told WDBJ-TV that it’s an ancient ecstatic teaching that was used in ancient Greece and elsewhere to contact the dead.

(editors insert) Necromancy is a claimed form of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge. The term may sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft.

15-Year-Old Afghan Girl Beheaded For Rejecting Marriage Proposal
11/29/12 Afghan police arrest two men for allegedly beheading a 15-year-old girl after her father turned down a marriage proposal.
According to BBC News, the two men who proposed the arranged marriage and attacked her are relatives of the girl.
“Our investigation shows those who killed her were people who wanted to marry her,” a Kunduz province police official told the BBC.
The father did not want his daughter to get married because she was “too young to be engaged.”
CNN reports the girl was killed near her family’s home while bringing back water.
According to The Washington Post, dozens of Afghan women kill themselves each year in order to avoid arranged marriages.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/20...d-for-rejecting-marriage-proposal

BornAgain2

Father Carves Pentagram into Son on 12-12-12
12/13/12A Richland Hills man has been arrested and charged with assaulting his son after telling a 911 operator he carved a pentagram into his 6-year-old son's back.
Just after midnight Wednesday, officers were dispatched to a home in the 3700 block of Ruth Road after the boy's father, identified by police as Brent Troy Bartel, called 911 and said: "I shed some innocent blood."

When the dispatcher asked what the man meant by that, the man replied: “I inscribed a pentagram on my son.”
The dispatcher asked why, and the man said: "It's a holy day."
At the same time, the child's mother called 911 from a neighbor's home and said her husband was hurting their child.

Officers arrived at the home and found the child cold, standing in only pajama pants with a large pentagram carved into his back. The carving covered most of the boy's back, police said.

Officers wrapped the boy in a jacket and turned him over to paramedics. The child was transported to Cooks Children's Hospital for treatment. Child Protective Services and a crime victim liaison are working with the boy and his mother.

Police said Wednesday afternoon that the carving wasn't deep enough to require stitches and that the child is expected to physically recover.
At the scene, officers also recovered a box cutter they believe Bartel used to make the carving.
Bartel was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon-family member. He is currently being held on $500,000 bond.
The father's call to 911 was placed at 12:10 a.m., just minutes after the day 12-12-12 began.

It is not clear what Bartel meant by calling Wednesday "a holy day."
However, Catholics celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. And the Dec. 12, 2012, date, along with Dec. 21, 2012, has draw attention from numerologists and those concerned with doomsday prophecy.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/...to-Son-on-12-12-12-183209891.html

BornAgain2

Virgin Mary statue unearthed outside Boston
13 Dec 2012 Residents of a Boston suburb assisted living facility were thrilled to learn a construction crew unearthed a Virgin Mary statue out of the ground, just in time for Christmas.
The four-foot concrete statue was found in the ground last week during construction in an area next to the Golden Pond facility in Hopkinton, Mass., CBS Boston affiliate WBZ-TV reports.

The facility's executive director, Bill Marr, said the statue was in excellent condition, considering it was probably underground for at least 20 years.
"It's even beyond incredible that it was found 20 days before Christmas," Marr told WBZ-TV. "The timing of the year could be more symbolic.

No one really knows how the statue got there. Years ago, mobile homes stood on the ground where the statue was found. Before that, the area was wooded.
Marr plans on checking with local historians to learn more about how the Virgin Mary ended up in the ground. In the meantime, the state is inside the Golden Pond facility and residents can't stop talking about it.

"It is a wonderful thing," said Andrea Brass, who lived at Golden Pond for five years. "I think the statue is absolutely beautiful [and] I think it's a precursor of good things to come for this place."
Once the statue is refurbished, WBZ-TV reports, it will be placed in the building's multifaith chapel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_1...y-statue-unearthed-outside-boston

BornAgain2

Tea party group fights for Islamic causes
12/16/12 Far from being the lock-step GOP ground troop some in the media have suggested it is, the tea-party movement includes people of many different ideologies … but this element is most unusual.
A Muslim activist organization that claims to be working from within the tea party to counter the movement’s “Islamophobia.”

The group Muslims4Liberty, however, also decries American “greatness,” accuses the U.S. of “war crimes,” espouses seemingly anti-Israel ideology and slams the “evangelical and conservative Jewish bloc” of the Republican party.
The radical left Center for American Progress, or CAP, actually promotes Muslims4Liberty as a small organization of supposed tea-party activists “fighting against the right wing’s Islamophobia,” according to a CAP description.

Think Progress, the CAP’s official blog, noted how Illume Magazine documented the efforts of Will Coley, a self-proclaimed Tea Party member and Islam convert who co-founded Muslims4Liberty to confront “anti-Islam activists head on.”
Illume quotes Coley describing how he started going to tea-party events in Florida in 2009 but was concerned about the emergence of “Islamophobia” in the movement.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/tea-pa...lamic-causes/#T492GHBkFTm6CBz4.99

Satanists planning rally for Florida Gov. Rick Scott
1/15/13 Florida Gov. Rick Scott may have earned himself a new constituency, but the devil is in the details.
Local news site WPBF.com reported that a group of Satanists plans to hold a rally outside Scott's office on Jan. 25 to support the governor’s signing of a bill that allows students to pray at school events.

"We've gotten such a response, it's just impossible for me to know what that translates into," Satanic Temple spokesman Lucien Greaves told WPBF, regarding how many will show up at the rally.
“You don’t build up your membership unless people know about you,” Greaves said in a separate interview with the Palm Beach Post. “So this allows us to get our message out in public. We’re hoping it will reduce the stigmatism.”
The Satanic Temple was launched in 2012 with what Greaves described as being “more or less an online community.”

The group’s website describes itself as being different from other, better-known Satanic organizations. Greaves said the rally is part of a larger ongoing effort at making the group’s beliefs more commonplace in mainstream discussions of religion and belief. From the website:

“Though we have far to go before public education leads to a mainstream embrace of our Satanic religion, we feel that our own public ‘coming out’ will go a long way toward raising the consciousness of the populace … and the social environment has never yet been better prepared for the welcoming of a new Satanic era.”

The group’s founder, Neil Bricke, is scheduled to speak at the rally.
"We feel it's time for Satanists to come out and say exactly who we are," Greaves said.
So, what does Scott think of the newly organized support?
"This is a great country. Everyone has a voice," Gov. Scott's press secretary wrote in an email to ABCNews.com.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sides...ida-gov-rick-scott-231148312.html

BornAgain2

The Islamization of France in 2012
17 Jan 2013 Muslim immigrants and their supporters have been using a combination of lawsuits, verbal and physical harassment - and even murder - to silence debate about the rise of Islam.
Opinion surveys show that to voters in France -- home to an estimated 6.5 million Muslims, the largest Muslim population in the European Union -- Islam and the question of Muslim immigration have emerged in 2012 as a top-ranked public concern. The French, it seems, are increasingly worried about the establishment of a parallel Muslim society there.

But government efforts this year to push back against the Islamization of France were halting and half-hearted and could be described as "one step forward, two steps back."
A chronological review of some of the main stories involving the rise of Islam in France during 2012 includes:

Muslim immigrants, as of January, began to find it more difficult to obtain French citizenship. New citizenship rules that entered into effect on January 1, 2012 now require all applicants to pass exams on French culture and history and also to prove that their French language skills are equivalent to those of a 15-year-old native speaker. Moreover, candidates seeking French citizenship will be required to pledge allegiance to "French values."

Muslim applicants make up the majority of the 100,000 people naturalized as French citizens each year, and the new citizenship requirements form part of a larger effort to promote Muslim integration into French society.
In February, the Persian Gulf Emirate of Qatar announced plans to invest €50 million ($65 million) in French suburbs, home to more than one million disgruntled Muslim immigrants.

Qatar said its investment was intended to support small businesses in disadvantaged Muslim neighborhoods. But as Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, subscribes to the ultra-conservative Wahhabi sect of Islam, critics say the emirate's real objective is to peddle its religious ideology among Muslims in France and other parts of Europe.

Shortly before Qatar announced its plans to invest in France, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who has long cultivated an image as a pro-Western reformist and modernizer, vowed to "spare no effort" to spread the fundamentalist teachings of Wahhabi Islam across "the whole world."
The promotion of Islamic extremist ideologies -- particularly Wahhabism, which not only discourages Muslim integration in the West, but actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims -- threatens to further radicalize Muslim immigrants in France.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3523/islamization-of-france

BornAgain2

America’s Future Belongs to Islam
2/6/13 Islam, according to newly released data from the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, is now the fastest growing religion in America, verifying President Barack Obama's claim that the United States is "no longer a Judeo-Christian country."
How many Muslims now live within the country remains anyone's guess, since the U.S. Census Bureau neglects to collect data on religious identification. A 2008 study by Cornell University projected that the number of Muslims in America had climbed from 1.6 million in 1995 to 7 million.[i ] A U.S. News and World Report survey, which was conducted at the same time, placed the figure at 5 million,[ii] while the Pew Research Center set the number at 2.35 million.

But Pew researchers admit that their survey was not thorough since it neglected to take into account immigrant and poor black Muslims.[iii] What's more, these researchers only contacted Americans with telephone landlines and failed to take into account the fact that nearly 50% of U.S. residents and age 18-35 and the nearly 100% of the illegal immigrants who communicate exclusively by cell phones.[iv]

Muslim organizations, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), supported the Cornell University projection of 7 million - - based on mosque attendance.[v]
In any case, all demographers agree that throughout the coming decades, the faith of the Prophet Mohammed will continue to impact and transform all aspects of American life: social, political, and economic. They further maintain that, save for a cataclysmic sea-change in population trends, Islam by 2050 will emerge as the nation's dominant religion.
http://www.familysecuritymatters....-islam?f=must_reads#ixzz2KIkuyzsX

The 14 million-member LDS Church has 420,977 youths in 37,882 scouting units.

The faith allows chaste gays to hold callings or positions in its organizations, when chosen by local Mormon leaders, and its written guidelines do not exclude Scouting. [Peggy Fletcher Stack, SL Tribune, 1/28/13]

As the BSA sits on the edge of a major policy shift to allow gays to take leadership positions in the BSA, the LDS church has already been doing so for some time. Sort of like having the wolves shepherd the sheep. It is a remarkable change and a bit of a shock. I remember back in the early 1980s when an off-campus, student newspaper called the 7Th East Press did an expose on Homosexuality and BYU. It revealed that as many as one-third of returning LDS missionaries at BYU were engaged in the Homosexual lifestyle. Their exceptional research and publishing the results did not sit well with the "brethren." As I remember, the key students in the report were soon attending other schools.

Back in the 1970s, BYU Camus police followed gay students to gay bars and other such hangouts in Salt Lake City and then, back on campus, brought them in for reprogramming that included electroshock therapy. One of the usual solutions was to marry these youngsters off to a willing coed as soon as possible, convinced this would be the real cure. All it did was totally mess up people's lives even further.

Now gay and lesbian lifestyles are OK on campus and in church leadership positions. This is the same church that took a major stand in supporting Proposition 8 in California. They are going to reap a whirlwind in this major shift in its acceptance of such a non-biblical lifestyle. This new LDS Church, trying to be the fuzziest, warmest kind of welcoming church, s selling out its own standards of morality.

Just a few months ago, The Boys Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a Portland man who said they didn't do enough to stop a Scout troop leader from sexually abusing children.

A document filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Boise said both sides agreed to an undisclosed monetary settlement. The lawsuit alleges the leader of a Boy Scout troop in Nampa in southwestern Idaho sexually abused the plaintiff over three years in both Idaho and Oregon starting in 1967, and that the abuse left him with debilitating physical, emotional and mental injuries.

I’ve had it up to here. Enough is enough. It is time to recognize that traditional Islam is backward, bloody, brutal and beastlike. Moreover, I am weary of people who can’t get indignant over the “honor” killings, genital mutilation of little girls, and the creeping of sharia law in America. It is not wise to generalize, but generally speaking, Muslims who follow the Koran as a holy book are dangerous, deceived, and deadly people. And it’s time for our government to act.

U.S. Muslims are waiting until they have the influence to strike and they will strike. Only uneducated fools say otherwise. Islamic leaders have already demanded sharia law in the U.S., Canada, and Britain. Sharia is not only a judicial system; it is a barbaric way of life that every Muslim must follow. Muslim ferociousness has been common for more than 1400 years in other nations. A few years ago there were a few Muslim political leaders that were at least somewhat reasonable, but not today. Even Turkey is slipping swiftly into the radical Islamist orbit where Muslim fanatics rule. Must I remind my readers of the dominoes falling all over the Middle East as I write?

Do you remember the fall of the Shah of Iran? The Shah was hated by the leftists in America and Europe. Well, we got rid of our friend in 1979 and he was replaced by radicals who seized 52 Americans and terrorized them for 444 days until the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. You think maybe the weak-minded Muslim leaders connected the dots? Under weak, whining, and whimpering U.S. leaders, we have seen Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, and Egypt fall into the abyss of Islamists and as I write, Syria is being bombed back to the Stone Age and will be ruled by fanatics. North Mali has fallen to Islamists and French troops are trying to keep them from taking control of the south. Within a year, Iraq and Afghanistan will each be an Islamist extremist paradise–again, although stained with American blood.

more

BornAgain2

Caught the last end of the Oscars last night - did that look like a masonic symbol on Michelle Obama's dress(when she was asked to announce Best Picture)?

BornAgain2

Harvard University says Quran verse is one of the greatest expressions of justice
1/24/13 The U.S. Harvard University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, has placed a Quran verse at the entrance of its faculty of law.
Described by the institution as one of the greatest expressions of justice in history, Verse 136 of Surah Al Nisa (The Women Chapter) is dedicated to humanity as the best expression defending and articulating justice.

“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.” Surat An Nisa 4: 135

According to the Saudi Arabic language daily Ajel, a Saudi Student at Harvard published the picture of the verse on his Twitter page.
“I noticed that the verse was posted by the faculty of law, which described it as one of the greatest expressions for justice in history,” Abdullah Jumma said.

Justice quotations were selected among 150 contributions from law school faculty, staff and students. Yet, the three unanimously appreciated and displayed at the faculty entrance are quotes taken from St. Augustine, the Holy Quran and the Magna Carta.

According to the official website of the university, The Words of Justice exhibition is a clear sign of humanity’s craving for fairness on this earth.
At present, visitors to Harvard, researchers in particular, have the chance to identify themselves with the best articulations of justice since time immemorial.
Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1636.
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2...e-greatest-expressions-of-justice

Forget Scientology, celebs are now falling for an even more sinister 'religion': Introducing the Satanic sex cult that's snaring stars such as Peaches Geldof
Founder Aleister Crowley dubbed 'the wickedest man in the world'
Crowley was born in 1875 and styled himself 'the Great Beast, 666'
Other stars linked to the cult include Jimmy Page and Jay-Z

4/22/13 Taken at face value it was an innocent enough remark, encouraging friends to explore 'a belief system to apply to day-to-day life to attain peacefulness'. But when Peaches Geldof chose to share her 'religious' convictions with her 148,000 followers on Twitter, it lifted the lid on a much more sinister world than first impressions would suggest. The socialite, 24, is a devotee of Ordo Templi Orientis, known as OTO, and even has the initials tattooed on her left forearm. But a closer look at OTO — and Aleister Crowley, its founding 'prophet' — gives the lie to that assumption.

Crowley, who was born into an upper-class British family in 1875, styled himself as 'the Great Beast 666'. He was an unabashed occultist who, prior to his death in 1947, revelled in his infamy as 'the wickedest man in the world'. His form of worship involved sadomasochistic sex rituals with men and women, spells which he claimed could raise malevolent gods and the use of hard drugs, including opium, ****, **** and mescaline. Crowley’s motto — perpetuated by OTO — was 'do what thou wilt'. And it is this individualistic approach that has led to a lasting fascination among artists and celebrities, of whom Peaches is the latest in a long line.

Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, for example, routinely took part in occult magical rituals and was so intrigued by Crowley he bought his former home, Boleskine House, on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland. And there are now OTO lodges scattered around the country, practising the same ceremonial rituals and spreading the word of Crowley. While membership is secret, Peaches is said to have been initiated into it, raising the prospect that many of her impressionable fans could try to do the same.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail...Peaches-Geldof.html#ixzz2RCqIdhUp

In 2003, Azzam Tamimi, a Hamas member from Hevron, delivered a sermon at the Great Mosque in Stockholm, expressing support for suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Outside the mosque, militants distributed leaflets containing calls to "liquidate the Jews in Palestine in the name of Allah".

Why did the Swedish authorities allow this Arab anti-Semite to deliver a homicidal sermon in their capital's main mosque if not to help foment a new war against the Jewish people?

Ten years later, and Sweden, long famed as a shelter for U.S. draft resisters, Arab immigrants, political refugees and other exiles, has become one of the most anti-Semitic countries in the world.

A recent poll found that 68 percent of Swedes have a negative opinion of Israel. No other nation in the West has a higher anti-Semitic public opinion. Everyone is welcome today in Sweden, except the Jews.

more

BornAgain2

Hamas Urges Children to 'Martyrdom'
4/25/13
A leopard doesn't change its spots, nor does Hamas seem to waiver in its ideology. While seeking reconciliation with Fatah to establish an independent Palestinian state living in peaceful coexistence with Israel, Hamas continues indoctrinating children from an early age to aspire to "martyrdom." All this takes place while simultaneously petitioning the United States and European Union to remove its designation as a terror group. The Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI) recently provided a translation of a children's television program aired on the al-Aksa network. It's not the first of its kind.

The program featured the grandchildren of the late Hamas MP Maryam Mohammad Yousif Farhat, known as Umm Nidal (the mother of Nidal), who made a name for herself by celebrating the deaths of her three sons during the second intifada (armed uprising). On the program, one of her granddaughters speaks proudly of her father manufacturing the first Kassam rockets fired at Israel. Another calls on the next generation to continue the struggle to liberate the al-Aksa Mosque (on the Temple Mount), sending them either "to victory or to paradise, Allah willing."

"Jihad ['holy' war] bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a seeker of martyrdom. Oh 'explosive device' of glory, with her blood she created freedom. Ask Fatima Najjar [a 70-year-old suicide bomber who blew herself up in November 2006] how one should live a life of pride," the children proclaimed. The announcer, herself a child, says, "We should sacrifice our lives for the sake of the homeland so we can please Allah and liberate Palestine and Jerusalem." "We should wage jihad and persevere to liberate this land," another youngster says. "When one of us is martyred, we say his life is precious; yet it is a cheap price to pay for the liberation and defense of the homeland."

According to pro-A.A. author Dick B., A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson “had been pelted with ideas from Carl Jung, William James, William Silkworth, Richard Peabody, Sam Shoemaker, Frank Buchman, Emmet Fox and other New Thought writers, and perhaps even with the Masonic mysticism which might have crept into [A.A. co-founder] Dr. Bob’s expressions.” (Dick B., When Early AA’s Were Cured And Why, pg. 65) (bold mine)

There are some remarkable similarities between Freemasonry and the Alcoholics Anonymous religion. With both Freemasonry and A.A., it is not about what particular “god” you believe in, only that you believe in something.

In this respect, it is easy to see how Dr. Bob’s Masonic background may have been a strong factor in the formulation of Alcoholics Anonymous.

According to Cedric L. Smith, Grand Secretary of Masons in Vermont: “Robert H. Smith was a member in Passumpsic Lodge No.27, St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Initiation January 29, 1903, Paiing February 5, 1903, Raising February 12, 1903, Suspended April 1934, Reinstated September 3, 1942, Died November 16, 1950. He was a Freemason in good standing at the time of his death.”

BornAgain2

Psychic Who Said Amanda Berry Was Dead Silent After Berry Is Found Alive
5/7/13 A year after Amanda Berry disappeared in Cleveland, her mother appeared on "The Montel Williams Show" to speak to a psychic about what happened to her daughter.
Psychic Sylvia Browne, who has made a career of televised psychic readings, told Louwanna Miller on a 2004 episode of the show that her daughter was dead, causing Miller to break down in tears on the show's set.
"She's not alive, honey," Browne told Miller on the show, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. "Your daughter's not the kind who wouldn't call."

Miller told the newspaper that she believed "98 percent" in what Browne told her. Miller died a year later from heart failure.
On Monday, Berry was found alive after she broke free from a home in Cleveland where she says she has been kept for the past decade.
Browne did not return phone calls seeking comment today by ABC News. The Montel Williams show, through syndicator CBS, also did not return calls for comment. The show no longer airs new episodes.

It's not the first time that Browne, and other psychics, have come under fire for their involvement in law enforcement cases.
In 2003, Browne incorrectly told the parents of missing teen Shawn Hornbeck that their son was dead, and his body could be found somewhere near "two jagged boulders," according to her premonition.

Nearly four years later, Hornbeck was found alive, and Browne was widely criticized in the media for causing the Hornbecks additional grief.
A website called "Stop Sylvia Browne," dedicated to cataloguing Browne's purported failures at prediction, sprang up in 2006.

Last year, Dwayne Baker told ABC News that after his son went missing in 2007, he was flooded with calls from psychics offering potential leads into the whereabouts of Travis Baker.
"It's very hard,' Dwayne Baker said. "I went through everything. My son was missing for two years, two months and 12 days. "Psychics called me. I even received a DVD in the mail that a guy claimed he could talk to the dead and this was Travis' voice, with no return address. I don't understand why people would want to do that."
"The psychics…" said Baker, 45, before pausing to let out a long sigh. "I hate to say how many of those called me and said they knew where Travis was. My mother and wife went to one and paid them $100."
Travis Baker's remains were located in 2009.

Brad Garret, a former special agent with the FBI and ABC News consultant said that alleged tips from psychics rarely help solve a case.

"As far as finding a victim, finding remains, finding evidence or in any way helping to solve the case, it's never been my experience," he said. "So, it's really a disservice to victims."

"We've never had a psychic lead that turns out to be correct," said Lt. Dave Parker, of the Anchorage, Alaska, police department, after 18-year-old Samantha Koenig went missing in February, 2012.
Today, Brown faced backlash on social media for her incorrect prediction about Amanda Berry. It is unclear whether she has helped to solve a crime with her psychic predictions.
"Psychics make me sick. Here's an example: Sylvia Browne told Amanda Berry's Mum (now dead) her daughter was dead," wrote Twitter user Chris McBriarty.
http://gma.yahoo.com/psychic-said...2849667--abc-news-topstories.html

BornAgain2

Right-wing historian shoots himself in Notre Dame cathedral in protest at gay pseudomarriage
21 May 2013 Man kills himself in iconic Parisian attraction
French media reports say historian Dominique Venner shot himself
He is known to be a virulent opponent of gay marriage
The 78-year-old also fought in a militant paramilitary group
The historic site was close to the public
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a...t-gay-marriage.html#ixzz2TxHa8IKZ

BornAgain2

Expert: Islam taking over, Europe soon to be unrecognizable

According to Dr. Mordechai Kedar, European softening, together with demographics, is leading to 'abysmal' change. Dr. Avika Libman: Riots start with preachers demanding Muslim state

The murder of a soldier in London, the stabbing of a soldier in Paris and the violent outbreak in Sweden – Europe's alarm clock has been ringing once again over the past week. The negative birthrate compared to the increase in Muslims, the heavy unemployment and the social-religious isolation of European immigrants are all back on the agenda.

"Europe has lost its will to live as Europe," said Mideast expert Dr. Mordechai Kedar to Ynet. "It is gathered into museums, into history. If the leaders will not put an end to immigration, we will soon be hearing the death throes of the continent as we know it."

Even if it is somewhat demagogic to attempt to bind the three events from the past few days in different European sites under "Islamic extremism," and even if the rage sparks in the weaker classes of immigrants, it is hard to ignore the basic facts. Behind these events are African immigrants from Islamic countries.

The link between Mormonism and Freemasonry is key to understanding the two sides of the New World Order,
for always there has been a religious and a political aspect to this monster.

Freemasonry had long been a powerful political influence on the stage of world affairs
prior to its emergence from underground in the early 18th century England,
and its influence has only grown since then under one guise or another.

The religious ‘swordarm’ of the New World Order though took a major shift in the early 1800s.
The ‘new’ Holy Roman Empire that had controlled religious thought for more than a thousand years
was disbanded in 1806 by Napoleon after having waned in power from its inception under the Merovingian king, Clovis.
Although the Vatican still held sway over millions of Catholics, it too had many weaknesses and was a religion for an old era,
not for the approaching 20th century that was so crucial to the New World Order’s plans.

The timing was perfect. In the emerging New World of the Americas,
a young Joseph Smith (1805-44) had just set out on his mission with his newly created Mormons, Church of Latter-day Saints.

Mormonism was a part of the early 19th-century American movement of religious revivalism called the Second Great Awakening,
an idea which reflected the new focus on the country that was to be a major power and influence for the new century,
the country which Manly Hall says had always been called “the New Atlantis” in the New World Order’s ‘Great Plan.’

Joseph Smith

Joseph’s story begins in 1823, seventeen years after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire,
and only a year after the disappearance of Captain Alfred Morgan, the man who had wanted to publish the secrets of Freemasonry.
Morgan had lived in the town of Batavia, New York, not far from Joseph Smith’s home town in Vermont.

Joseph’s family moved near to the town of Palmyra, in upstate New York,
and it was here that Church history says that Joseph found himself confronted one day by the vision of a demon (fallen angel)
who told Joseph of his life’s work and the mission that was before him. The crux of his mission was to be the
restoration of the true religion of God which did not at that time exist upon the planet.
The series of visions he was reported to have had over the next few years were also to prepare him for the day when
he would unearth a set of buried plates on which were written the supposed history of
a ‘lost’ Jewish tribe that had come to America during Old Testament times.

With the plates were said to be the Urim and Thummim, the crystal technology mentioned in the Old Testament for communicating with ‘God’.
In this case they were to be used for the translation of the golden plates buried in a hill near the Smith farm.
The result was published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. The new church was based on the instructions
Joseph Smith received and the golden plates that he said he had been led to by the demon angel, Moroni.
(Now why do you suppose its name is MORON eh?)

The church, founded on April 6, 1830, officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
quickly attracted followers, many of whom served as lay missionaries.
More on link

Age of Deceit video
Fallen Angels and the New World Order. A biblical look at the history of fallen angels and it's relationship to the New World Order and the New Age movement. Topics covered are the fall of mankind, the pre-flood world as Atlantis, the New Age through theosophy, the fallen angels and their origin of planting the seeds to society, UFO's, ET's and abduction cases, demonic possession, channeling, and more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9CXA6zfcEw

An official says suspected Islamist extremists killed at least 44 villagers in continuing attacks in an Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria. The official of the National Emergency Management Agency says the attackers hit Dumba village in Borno state before dawn Tuesday and slit their victims’ throats — a new strategy since gunfire attracts security forces.

Police in Michigan have broken up a shocking 'drug-fueled orgy' being hosted at a secretive Masonic Lodge - and this wasn't the first time it's happened, authorities warn.

Officers were called to the prominent building in downtown Battle Creek, Michigan - which sits across a park from police headquarters - about 2.15am Sunday. They found five women dancing on stage naked.

They also reportedly discovered a couple having sex in the lodge and several men standing around filming the action.

WWMT-TV reports that authorities believe the Masonic Lodge, which is home of the secret society called Freemasons, has been used for such activities before and are working to shut the operation down.

Police sources told WWMT that officers found a 'drug-fueled sex party' in the building and sent the revelers home.

The Battle Creek Freemasons refused to comment on camera for the TV station, but insisted that the orgy was not part of the secret society's rituals. They said the party was not sponsored by their group at all.

Instead, they say, a party promoter paid $900 to rent the space for the night.

'Charlie' a Freemason spokesman, said the man renting the lodge told the Freemasons he would be hosting a dance party.

The Freemasons said they checked on the party about 1am on Sunday and found nothing suspicious.

However, when officers arrived a little more than an hour later, they found debauchery, police sources told WWMT.

City officials say they are considering fines and charges, both against the party promoters and the Freemasons who own the building.

The report from WWMT does not specify whether drugs were found or seized.

A summary of a police report printed in the Battle Creek Enquirer newspaper mentions only the naked women dancing on stage. Police said they told the women to dress and to leave the premises.

BornAgain2

House stenographer sent for mental exam after floor rant: ‘Praise be to God’

Facebook postings peppered with religious themes
10/17/13

House stenographer Dianne Reidy stunned congressional members late Wednesday evening at the tail end of the government shutdown vote when she wound her way to the podium, ranting about God, Free Masons and the inability of the nation to serve two masters.

“Praise be to God,” Ms. Reidy said. “He will not be mocked. He will not be mocked. Don’t touch me. He will not be mocked.”

Fox News said Ms. Reidy is well-liked on Capitol Hill — hardly the radical partisan type — and her interruption caused several members to express concern for her mental health. The cable network also reported that Ms. Reidy was sent for a mental evaluation shortly after the incident.

Among her statements, as captured on audio: “The greatest deception here is this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been, it would not have been. No. It would not have been. The Constitution would not have been written by Free Masons. They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise forever.”

Others on the video tape can be heard in the background urging her to be quiet.

“I think there’s a lot of sympathy, because something clearly happened there,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, of Ms. Reidy, in The Hill.

And Rep. Joaquin Castro said similarly: “I’ve seen her around when I’ve been on the floor. Other members who have been here longer said she always seemed nice. She was yelling about not being able to serve two masters.”

I was watching a video and noticed Ted Cruz giving this Freemason symbol pictured above. The video was talking about Ted Cruz and his “natural born citizen” and “dual citizenship” status. At the 2:30-2:34 mark he does this gesture. (The video of it is: http://youtu.be/A-pNk4Nf4oY)

Pictured above is the Freemason hand gesture known as the “Hidden Hand”.

more

BornAgain2

Just a follow up to the Diane Reidy story, The audio of her speaking actually occurred after she was escorted from the room. Yet, somehow, that audio was dubbed in to some YouTube videos of her in the House chamber as if that is what she was saying prior to being dragged off.

Quote:

Dianne Reidy’s Congressional Outburst: A Careful Examination

Posted by
natalina
1 day ago

On Thursday night, the House voted to re-open the Federal Government and raise the debt ceiling. In a move that was meant to set the public mind at ease about the ability of the government to come together for the benefit of the people, a certain woman’s words seem to be dominating the majority of the headlines. Dianne Reidy’s congressional outburst has captivated the nation.

A White House stenographer now identified as Dianne Reidy took to the dais at the House floor to deliver a rant that she describes as coming from the Holy Spirit. After being removed from the House floor, she continued her rant into the hallway until she was ultimately forcibly escorted into an elevator.

While headlines range from naming Dianne as a prophetess to calling her a woman suffering from a psychotic break, I tend to find that the truth is being lost in the shuffle, so I want to examine what we actually KNOW about what happened, to see if we can inject some reason into the discourse.

The majority of reports about Dianne’s proclamations claim that they were recorded on the House floor. This is incorrect. In most all of the audio clips I’ve heard thus far, we are hearing what Dianne said IN THE HALLWAY outside of Congressional chambers, after she was removed from the dais. Here is a video proving that to be the case:

Now, below you will see video of what we know about what was actually said ON the House floor.. which is precisely nothing, because although she methodically approached a microphone at the dais, there was no discernible audio captured.

So to recap, we actually have NO IDEA what Dianne said on the House floor, and the ONLY audio captured was taken from her continuing yelling in the hallway outside of chambers. The majority of mainstream reporting about the audio and timing of the rant and placement of the rant is just plain incorrect as I have just proven.

The long-running game show “Jeopardy” featured an entire category on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last night. The category was popular as it was the first one chosen in the round. The “answers” in the category included missionaries, the Tabernacle, Marion Romney, Joseph Smith and Deseret Industries. Every contestant who was asked a question got it right.

BornAgain2

Geneva Conference Moves Toward Criminalizing "Islamophobia"
10/22/13

In its quest to criminalize speech that’s critical of all Islam-related topics, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)* endorsed the formation of a new Advisory Media Committee to address “Islamophobia.”

This past September, the OIC held “The First International Conference on Islamophobia: Law & Media.” The conference endorsed numerous recommendations which arose from prior workshops on Islamophobia from media, legal and political perspectives. A main conclusion was the consensus to institutionalize the conference and create an Advisory Media Committee to meet under the newly established OIC Media Forum based in Istanbul Turkey.

Supposedly, the purpose of the conference was to support an OIC campaign to “correct the image of Islam and Muslims in Europe and North America.” By this, it means to whitewash the intolerant, violent and discriminatory aspects of Islam and Islamists. The OIC has launched a campaign to provide disinformation to the public, delinking all Islam from these undesirable traits and attacks all who insist on these truths, as bigots, racists and Islamophobes.

The OIC is a 57 member organization consisting of Muslim countries whose long term goal is the worldwide implementation of Sharia law and seemingly the ultimate establishment of a Caliphate. Its members tend to vote together as a block in the UN, so it is extremely powerful, despite the fact that few people have heard of it.

A frightening proposal currently being considered by the European Parliament would direct governments to monitor citizens deemed “intolerant” and could even lead to a ban on all criticism of Islam and feminism.

The European Framework National Statute for the Promotion of Tolerance (PDF), which was drafted by the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR), an NGO based in Paris, was presented to the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee last month and is thought to be on the verge of implementation.

According to the Gatestone Institute, the Statute represents an “unparalleled threat to free speech” and would have the impact of “effectively shutting down the right to free speech in Europe” by banning “all critical scrutiny of Islam and Islamic Sharia law, a key objective of Muslim activist groups for more than two decades.”

The main purpose of the Statute is aimed at eliminating “anti-feminism” and “Islamophobia,” according to the document, which means that any criticism of feminist political doctrines or the Muslim religion would be considered hate speech.

This story is eerily similar to the firsthand undercover investigation I reported on here on the Al-Farooq mosque in Nashville, Tennessee. I had video footage of a 7-year-old girl talking about her husband and how they are regularly beaten during shariah class. sharia-law-obama-administration-paves-the-way-for-sharia-lawThe video is just the sound -- it was a hidden camera at the mosque. Listen to the girl describing how kids are beaten, as she begins to cry.

The abuse that these children describe below mirrors what we heard in the Tennessee mosque audio and what we see in this video of an Islamic school here.

Hundreds of Atlas readers contacted Child Services, the DHS, and even the Governor's office, but no action was taken in Tennessee. Let's hope that Columbus, Ohio doesn't cave to Islamic supremacist pressure.

This horror speaks to a larger problem -- importing jihad: "when several students in a class of mostly Somalis learning English, entered a discussion." A class of mostly Somalis?

Marvel Comics is bringing Ms. Marvel back as a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City named Kamala Khan.

The character -- among the first to be a series protagonist who is both a woman and Muslim -- is part of Marvel Entertainment's efforts to reflect a growing diversity among its readers while keeping ahold of the contemporary relevance that have underlined its foundation since the creation of Spider-Man and the X-Men in the early 1960s.

Writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona, working with editor Sana Amanat, say the series reflects Khan's vibrant but kinetic world, learning to deal with superpowers, family expectations and adolescence.

Amanat calls the series a "desire to explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective" and what it means to be young and lost amid expectations by others while also telling the story of a teenager coming to grips with having amazing powers.

"I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women. High school was a very vivid time in my life, so I drew heavily on those experiences -- impending adulthood, dealing with school, emotionally charged friendships that are such a huge part of being a teenager," said Willow, whose previous comics work includes Vertigo's "Cairo" and the series "Air."

"It's for all the geek girls out there and everybody else who's ever looked at life from the fringe."

She can grow and shrink her limbs and her body and, Willow said, ultimately, she'll be able to shape shift into other forms.

The idea came after a discussion with senior editor Stephen Wacker as they compared stories about growing up.

From there it germinated into a "character for all those little girls who are growing up now the way you are growing up," she recalled. Wilson was brought on board to write the series and the team quickly got approval from Marvel's creative committee to move forward.

DC Comics last fall relaunched its "Green Lantern" series with Simon Baz, an Arab American and Muslim. The character reflects writer Geoff Johns' Lebanese ancestry and his upbringing in the Detroit area.

There have been a few others: Marvel Comics has Dust, a young Afghan woman whose mutant ability to manipulate sand and dust has been part of the popular X-Men books. DC Comics in late 2010 introduced Nightrunner, a young Muslim hero of Algerian descent reared in Paris.

The creative team said that Khan's backstory, growing up Muslim, is an element of the story, but not the critical foundation, either.

"Kamala is not unlike Peter Parker," said Marvel Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso of the teenager turned wall crawler. "She's a 16-year-old girl from the suburbs who is trying to figure out who she is and trying to forge an identity when she suddenly bestows great power and learns the great responsibility that comes with it."

BornAgain2

MORMON CHURCH PURCHASES NEARLY 2% OF FLA...

Mormon church-owned company buys huge swath of Florida land
11/7/13

The Mormon church stands to own nearly 2 percent of Florida by completing a deal to buy most of the real estate of the St. Joe Co. for more than a half-billion dollars.

The megapurchase was announced jointly Thursday by a corporate representative of church, which owns the nearly 295,000-acre Deseret Ranches in Central Florida, and by the real-estate and timber business, which has built several communities along the Panhandle coast.

According to the announcement, a church entity, AgReserves Inc., will buy 382,834 acres – the majority of St. Joe's timberlands – in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties for $565 million.

Completion of the deal will leave the Utah-based church with 678,000 acres, an area larger than any other private holding in Florida, according to widely shared but unconfirmed rankings of top landowners.

AgReserves Inc., a taxpaying company of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will maintain timber and agricultural uses of the Panhandle acreage, according to the announcement.

"AgReserves has demonstrated its commitment to wise land stewardship and prudent resource management during more than 60 years of ranching and agricultural operations in east central Florida," said Paul Genho, chairman of AgReserves. "We will apply that same commitment and expertise to managing the property we are acquiring in Florida's panhandle."

Owned by the church for nearly 60 years, Deseret Ranches sprawls across Orange, Osceola and Brevard counties and is increasingly seen as critical to the Orlando region's water supply, road and rail network and future development.

Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam praised the announced deal as long-term investment in the state's timber and cattle business.

"This transaction between two of Florida's largest and most committed land stewards is a meaningful reminder of the economic and ecological value of agriculture in our state," Putnam said.

Charles Pattison, president of the smart-planning group 1000 Friends of Florida, said there has been little pressure for development of the St. Joe timberlands, which are well away from the Panhandle coast.

But Pattison said no other metropolitan area in the state borders such a huge and potentially developable piece of property as Deseret Ranches, which covers a largely roadless and unpopulated area southeast of Orlando.

Last week, Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order that created the East Central Florida Corridor Task Force to plan for roads, development and environmental protection in an area dominated by Deseret Ranches.

"It is more important than ever that we work together to plan our future," said ranch manager Erik Jacobsen in response to the task force formation. "We look forward to collaborating with leaders from the state and Brevard, Orange and Osceola counties."

With 44,000 head of cattle, the ranch property also is one of the nation's largest producers of calves and manages thousands of acres of citrus groves, vegetable farms and timberlands.

Orlando, Orange County and state water authorities have been planning for years to accommodate growing populations by pumping water from Taylor Creek Reservoir within ranch boundaries.

A St. Joe Co. official said the sale will help the company, to be left with 184,000 acres after the sale, focus on its real-estate development.

In yet another openly hostile, in-your-face act of intimidation against anyone who dares to disagree with the “Religion of Peace,” 57 Muslim countries around the world are now coming together to pressure Western countries into silencing and prosecuting any and all criticism of Islam as a “hate crime.”

As Investor’s Business Daily explains, it is all happening under the banner of a Saudi-based group called the “Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” which released its 94-page document on “Islamophobia” (noticing Islamic violence is fear-based bigotry) in recent weeks.

If this calculated attempt to obliterate all dissent has its way, it will officially become a felony in the U.S. and Europe for citizens to even suggest “that Muslims are inclined to violence” or that “Islam is an inherently expansionist religion.”

Never mind the fact that huge portions of Muslims in countries all around the worldadmittedly believe adulterers and non-believers should be put to death, support suicide bombing civilians, and endorse honor killings.

Or that these are the same people who routinely stone women to death for being raped, who erupt into murderous worldwide riots over cartoons, and who danced in the streets on 9/11.

Or that Islam was founded at the tip of a sword. Or that its Koran openly teaches violent jihad against all non-believers. Or that Islam has remained entrenched in self-initiated carnage in every corner of the world since its bloody inception.

Islam revolves around violent expansion and conquest. Every last thing that in any way indicates something about a religion confirms this–its history, its founder, its teachings, its followers…everything.

But noticing this or objecting in any way is to be condemned and persecuted as “hate speech.” Instead, we are to believe that approximately one abortion clinic bombing per decade makesChristians the dangerous extremists here…while Islam is just a misunderstood “religion of peace.”

Incidentally, it is also worth noting that the “pro-tolerance,” “pro-diversity” liberals who defend Islam as it murders, mutilates and enslaves women across the globe are the very same champions of civility who vindictively smear anyone who objects to limitless taxpayer-funded abortion and contraceptives as being “at war with women.”

A newly released document obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request confirms that the State Department ordered the Department of Homeland Security to spare members of the Muslim Brotherhood traveling to the US in 2012 a TSA pat down or any kind of secondary screening.

The one page document (PDF), obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, shows that members of a Muslim Brotherhood delegation traveling through Minneapolis Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Dulles Airport were handed expedited entry known as “port courtesy,” which is normally reserved for high ranking government officials and dignitaries. At the time, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Morsi, later deposed, had not been elected president.

The document contains four separate entries which include a directive that Muslim Brotherhood members, “not be pulled into secondary upon arrival at a point of entry.” As well as a TSA pat down, secondary screening involves carry on luggage being inspected by hand and the use of puffer explosive detectors.

Two following entries confirm that Muslim Brotherhood members traveled through both JFK and Dulles Airports “smoothly” and “without incident” after the DHS had been alerted about “port courtesies”.

Another entry reads; “MB delegate departure: In response to a request from the MB, the desk worked with the office of Foreign Missions to arrange for TSA to escort the last member of the visiting MB delegation, Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, through security at Minneapolis Airport and JFK Airport on April 15. We did not hear anything further from the MB, so we assume the departure went smoothly. In the coming days, we’re going to write down a list of procedures for dealing with MB visits to the United States.”

The delegate was given privileged access despite one of their members being linked to a previous child pornography investigation in the United States. In addition, the Muslim Brotherhood, which has now been declared a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government after bombing a police HQ last month, is closely affiliated with Al-Qaeda and has long been cited as the foundational inspiration for both Al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad.

The IPT also highlights the fact that individuals traveling from Syria to give speaking tours in the United States, people like Sheik Osama al-Rifai, that have openly endorsed Al-Qaeda militant groups under the banner of the the Islamic Front, are being handed visas by the State Department with no questions asked.

While completely innocent Americans continue to be subjected to invasive TSA grope down procedures and placed on no fly lists for no reason whatsoever, members of a group with direct links to terrorism were given VIP treatment by the State Department, the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security.

Mayor de Blasio said Monday that he’d move forward with closing schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two Muslim holy days, and for Lunar New Year. But he was hesitant regarding Hindu festival Diwali.
2/4/14

New York City is moving to close school for two Muslim holidays and the Lunar New Year — but Mayor de Blasio isn’t so sure about the Hindu festival Diwali.

Appearing on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show” on Monday, the mayor said he hadn’t taken a position on whether Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated in India and other South Asian countries, should be a day off from school.

But he said he’d move forward with closing schools for Lunar New Year and for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, Muslim holy days.

“It is complicated in terms of logistics and school calendar and budget. But it’s something I want to get done in a reasonable time frame,” he said.

A spokesman for the Indian community appealed to the mayor to recognize the Hindu holiday.

“We are disappointed. We’ve been trying for a long time … It’s very important for the community,” said Dr. Shashi Shah of the Association of Indians in America.

Ethnic communities have pushed for all four holidays to be recognized. Former Mayor Bloomberg opposed the change, saying kids should not miss more school.

BornAgain2

Former House Stenographer Whose Bizarre Rant Included God, the Constitution and Freemasons Says She ‘Did Not Have a Breakdown’
3/17/14

Former House stenographer Dianne Reidy, the woman who was removed from the House chamber last October when she went on a rant about God and the Constitution, released a video statement Saturday denying she suffered a breakdown and claiming that God guided her actions.

Reidy, who appears alongside her husband Dan in the video, said her public comments are meant to “set the record straight” about what unfolded late last year.

“I remember getting up to the podium and after saying, ‘God will not be mocked.’ I don’t have a memory of anything else that was said that evening until I was escorted off the floor,” Reidy said during the 38-minute video statement.

She later added, “I knew that God was going to speak through me, and I knew it was going to be during the vote, raising the debt ceiling level and ending the government shutdown.”

Below, see video of Reidy speaking on the floor, though the audio is not available as the microphone was off at the time:

The husband and wife indicated that they believe video of Reidy’s House floor comments was “interposed” with comments Reidy made after she was removed from the floor and preparing the exit the building. They said that they have not been able to locate exact audio or video of precisely what she said on the floor.

“So evidently what took place is somebody took that audio from that clip of the elevator and interposed it onto the video on the floor as being the words that Dianne actually said on the floor of House of Representatives and we now know that is not the case,” Dan said.

In video released last year, Reidy could be seen saying the following as she was leaving the House chamber: “This is not one nation under God, it never was … the Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons. They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, lord Jesus Christ.”

Regardless of what Reidy said on the floor, the couple believes that God spoke through her day, prompting her to bring a “word of correction” to the U.S. government.

Reidy said she was experiencing guidance from God well before the October 27 incident. Three weeks before the rant unfolded, she described waking up in the middle of the night to read the Bible.

“I knew [God] was doing something and I didn’t know what it was,” she said. “As it got closer I was having a lot of spiritual warfare. As it got closer, I knew that God was going to speak through me…and I knew that it was going to be during the vote.”

Reidy declined to tell anyone about what she was experiencing at the time, she said, because she was worried others would think she was having “some kind of a breakdown or something.”

“I’m not a protester, I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” she added in the video statement. “I did not lose my mind, I did not have a breakdown.”

GET OUT OF THE MILITARY, DON’T ENLIST–By: Devvy Kidd
Soviet Sweden? Model Nation Sliding to Third World
Muslim Brotherhood in America: The Overview
CRAZY! Pope Francis to Be Seen Worldwide In 3D on April 27th!
http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd602.htm

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Leaders of a national atheist group say the best spot to find a nonbeliever is in a place of faith.

To that end, the American Atheists, in an effort to raise awareness and attract new members, are holding their annual conference over Easter weekend in the home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They say the church's large influence in Utah has made atheists in the state reluctant to speak about religious doubts for fear of being shunned. Atheist group leaders also criticize the LDS influence as having overstepped its boundaries in areas of public policy.

Mormon culture dominates Utah, and the effect can be seen in the state's strict liquor laws and overwhelmingly conservative politics. About 60 percent of residents and about 4 in 5 Utah lawmakers identify as Latter-day Saints.

Many residents view the church's influence as responsible for what they consider a "pro-family" atmosphere that makes the state attractive, a University of Utah professor says.

The state prioritizes children, education and good health, said Don Herrin, who teaches family studies. He said this may help people feel "safer, more upbeat, more positive."

The expansiveness of Mormon principles can be seen as "an achievement of something that is valued in the culture," Herrin said.

The head of an LDS anti-defamation group also dismisses the atheists' criticism, saying the church doesn't publicly endorse legislative candidates. Scott Gordon, president of FairMormon, also says in an email that detractors are to be expected.

**Who are you trying to fool? The LDS church is also a 501c3 - of course they CAN'T endorse political candidates! :

"Anytime you have an organization that has a large economic footprint in a community, there will be some who will resent it and want to push back against it," he said.

LDS officials say the church isn't responding to the atheist group.

Twice a year, tens of thousands of Mormons arrive in Salt Lake City for the church's general conference. Early this month, attendees heard LDS church officials denounce gay marriage. A group of a few dozen demonstrators, led by Atheists of Utah along with the American Atheists, protested outside the conference.

About 700 attendees came Friday to listen to atheist speakers and discuss their beliefs. The visitors ranged from casually dressed college students to people in business suits to parents carrying toddlers.

Atheist leaders say their group members comprise a spectrum of views. Those who believe for certain that God doesn't exist, those who are unsure but aren't active in their faith and those who don't give the matter much thought all could be called atheists, they say.

**A lot like the Babel church building system!

Wilson Bateman, a 29-year-old from Sandy, said he was glad to see events that raise the profile of atheists. "Sometimes, it's just fun to be around your own people," he said.

The group plans its gatherings for Easter weekend in part to draw attention, but also because their members are generally available and hotel and convention centers offer good deals. Atheist organizers last brought their conference to Salt Lake City in 1981.

As a warm-up, conference officials hosted a panel discussion Wednesday featuring Mormon and atheist experts speaking about negative public perceptions and stereotypes about their respective groups.

Atheist speakers aimed to dispel notions that members of their community are immoral or unfriendly. LDS panel members, meanwhile, said their faith is neither unwelcoming nor exclusionary.

The American Atheists president, David Silverman, said Friday his group wants to make sure people of all faiths who have doubts, especially disillusioned Mormons in Utah, come to learn more and realize they have allies.

"We hope that they will come in droves" before Easter celebrations, he said, "and see what we're really like."

They offer a cunning mixture of Scripture verses and "almost" Christian doctrines. Their approach, like that of the Mormons, is to stress elements of their doctrine which avoid controversy. The rest comes later.

But they are an "organization" of slaves, working desperately to "earn" eternal life. They seek salvation, not by grace, but by becoming "Kingdom Publishers."

They don't have a personal relationship with Christ (who they say is not God), but rather they observe a system of law and works.

They devote their attention to an all-encompassing fascination with prophecy, and the "vindication of God's sovereignty." They believe:

Jehovah God existed from the beginning. His first creations were two angels, Michael (who later becomes Jesus) and Lucifer. Jehovah God created all else through his firstborn, Jesus (Michael).

Jehovah appointed Lucifer to watch over earth, but the angel became jealous of Jehovah. He seduced Adam and Eve, and became Satan. He dared challenge Jehovah's right to rule! Jehovah gave Satan 6,000 years to try to win over all humanity. When he fails, Jehovah God will re-establish his kingdom and destroy Satan and all his rebellious followers, thus vindicating Jehovah's name (an obsession with Witnesses).

After thousands of years of this struggle, Jehovah God arranged for Michael to cease to exist and be recreated as Jesus, a human. He was killed as a ransom on a torture stake (not a cross) for all mankind. This released men from Adam's sinful legacy, and gave them a chance to be worthy of eternal life, if they were faithful Witnesses.

When the human Jesus died, he stayed dead. He was recreated as a spirit (no bodily resurrection) and lives in heaven.

Jesus Christ (now Michael) returned to earth invisibly in 1914 (the date has been changed repeatedly) and is working through his "Organization" to re-establish Jehovah's kingdom over the earth.

The final battle between Jehovah and Satan, the Battle of Armageddon, is to start shortly, settling the question, "Who will rule earth?" A very special 144,000 Witnesses, the only ones considered "born again," will rule with Jesus in heaven at the end of this battle. All other Witnesses (numbering millions) will survive Armageddon, and live forever on earth, in the kingdom of the "New World."

After 1,000 years of this utopian Kingdom comes the final test. Satan will be loosed for a while and deceive many. He and those who rebel with him will be destroyed by fire from heaven (no eternal hell, just quick annihilation). Jehovah's sovereignty over all creation will have been vindicated once and for all.

While many Christians disagree on the order of final events, there can be no disagreement on the work of Christ, or one is not really Christian. J.W.'s bear the indelible mark of a cult: they claim Christ's death on the cross is not sufficient for full salvation. One must believe that Jesus is God, and also in His bodily resurrection. Both are denied by the Witnesses.

In fact, Jehovah's Witnesses deny most of the basic doctrines of Christianity. Former Witnesses point out several basic denials:

They claim:

Jesus Christ is not God. Rather, he is Michael the archangel.
The Holy Spirit is not a person, but an "active force." J.W.'s are unitarians, denying the Trinity.
When you're dead, you're dead. Man has no eternal soul, any more than animals.
Jesus Christ was not raised bodily from the grave, but was recreated as a new "spirit body."
Jesus returned invisibly in 1914. There is no "visible coming" planned in the future.
There is no hell. Just like animals, when we die, it is over.
Only 144,000 people achieve heaven. The rest, faithful Witnesses who have died, will be recreated on earth during the kingdom of the "New World."

Focusing on the Old Testament, their system is a legalistic one. They forbid blood transfusions (they say that is eating blood). They also consider any salute to a flag as worship of that flag, and therefore prohibited. They don't vote, hold public office or serve in the military.

Consumed with preparing for a "New World," they know nothing of "New Life" in Jesus Christ.

You will never learn Mormon doctrine from their Articles of Faith. Those are written to hide their teachings from "gentile" readers. You must look into their secret temple ceremonies and the writings of their prophets. Here are some of the surprising results.

Mormon scripture consists of four books. They are: (1) The Book of Mormon (2) Doctrine and Covenants (3) Pearl of Great Price and (4) The Bible (in that order). The first three books seriously contradict the Bible. Mormons often ignore the Bible, claiming it is "mis-translated."
Startling facts every Mormon needs to know.

Prophets are better than Scriptures. The words of a Mormon prophet supercede those of the written Scriptures.

God was once a man who progressed to Godhood. Mormons believe we can do the same. Their God has a physical body of flesh and bone.

There are many gods in heaven. God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are supposedly separate gods, united only in purpose.

God is having kids. Surrounded by what must be 1,000 or more wives, God is having little spirit babies which will inhabit the people born on the earth. The number of babies this requires Him to produce daily is incredible! No explanation is given why their God of flesh and bone, having babies through physical sexual contact with his wives, has only spirit babies. They teach that Mary married God to have Jesus (or else He would have been illegitimate) and then divorced him to marry Joseph.

Dark skin results from a "curse" placed upon certain spirits, presumably for some failure during "pre-existence." This anti-Negro doctrine is an embarrassment for Mormon leaders, and they are under great pressure to change it.

Women need husbands for resurrection at the end of time. Without a man to "lift the veil" over her face on resurrection day she won't make it. She is desperate to see her husband remain a true Mormon so she may be resurrected. Women's liberation has not made great inroads here.

Jesus had many wives. They say Mary and Martha were among his wives. One Mormon authority said Jesus was killed for his polygamy.

The Book of Mormon is infallible. Mormon Articles of Faith say, "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly: we also believe The Book of Mormon to be the Word of God." They claim anything in the Bible which denies Mormon teaching is "incorrectly translated."

Polygamy in heaven will be the rule. While early Mormon leaders taught and practiced polygamy, today few practice it due to fear of arrest. However, they teach that men (but not women) will be polygamists in heaven.

Marriage for eternity is performed in Mormon temples. Perhaps they consider Jesus' words to the contrary (Matt. 22:30) are "mis-translated."

"Holy underwear" is put on during the Mormon marriage ceremony (performed only in the temple). These "garments" must always touch the body for the rest of life. This is supposed to keep the "anointing oil" of the temple ceremony from escaping. Some irreverently call then "angel pants."

Baptism for the dead is done to provide non-Mormon ancestors a place in "celestial glory." Mormons spend great sums on genealogical research to find relatives who had no Mormon baptism. They say no one can get to heaven without baptism, and heaven has no water, so they baptize the living for their dead.

Proxy marriage for the dead is performed in Mormon temples. Mormons believe that loved ones who died outside Mormonism will live alone in the hereafter. Mormons conduct proxy weddings to "seal" these dead ones so they can be husband and wife in heaven.

Three heavens (degrees of glory) are taught: "Celestial," "Terrestrial," and "Telestial." All except the worst sinners (doomed to perdition) are expected to go to one of these. Only Mormons who marry in the Temple, keep the "Word of Wisdom" and wear their "garments" can get to the Celestial kingdom. God is supposed to be there. Those whose works aren't good enough, are stuck with the lower levels, where they are denied the "joys" of a polygamous eternity.

There is no hell according to current Mormon teaching. Even though The Book of Mormon teaches about hell, Mormons deny its existence. Much of current Mormon teaching contradicts their "infallible" Book of Mormon.

The one true church is the Mormon church. All others are apostate.

Many of their doctrines, taught by Mormon "prophets," are a great embarrassment to present Mormon leaders. They are even attempting to deny that their great prophets ever taught some of theses things.

But the historical record is clear. The writings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and others include the above doctrines.

Obviously Mormonism, which bases its claim to be the true church on the absolute reliability of early Mormon prophets, is proving today that those prophets were not speaking the words of an infallible God. Mormonism is continually changing and self-contradictory.

Imagine being born into this pagan system, believing with all your heart that it is the only truth! May God give us compassion and boldness to lead Mormons to abandon this horrendous mixture and find life-changing faith in Jesus Christ!

When young Mormons are sent around the world to attract new adherents to the Church, sometimes they end up questioning their own faith.

Seventeen-year-old Matthew Timion was smoking a cigarette out his bedroom window when he heard a knock at the door. He’d just moved across the country with his mother and stepfather, a militant atheist. The recent death of his alcoholic father had left him with many questions about life, death and faith. Without looking, he somehow knew the visitors at the door were Mormon missionaries. He later interpreted this as a sign from God.

“Mormonism came as a white horse,” Timion says. “They talked about families that can be together forever, life after death, the purpose of life. And there was an instant community. [For] someone like myself, who has father issues, this church run by men ready to give you a pat on the back filled every need I had.”

The missionaries Timion met that day guided him through the conversion process. Two years later, Timion embarked on a mission himself.

* * *

Non-Mormons are used to hiding from pairs of clean-cut young men in name tags and dark suits. But few of us understand what it’s like to be inside those suits, knocking on doors and approaching strangers in public to discuss their most deeply held beliefs.

Since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830, over one million Mormons have gone on missions. In March 2014 alone, there were 85,039 full-time missionaries serving at 405 missions around the world. Sixty-four percent of those missionaries were young men, 28 percent were young women, and 8 percent were seniors, who are defined in church literature to be worshippers who have left the workforce.

For young men growing up in Mormon communities, the pressure to go on a mission is enormous. Open any newspaper in Utah and you’ll find farewell and homecoming announcements. An advertisement in The Universe , Brigham Young University’s campus newspaper, offers a free pre-mission dental exam. One missionary we spoke to had his wisdom teeth removed as a farewell gift from his Mormon dentist.

Russell Beckstead is the ninth of ten siblings, six of whom had served before Russell was old enough to serve on a mission. In the small Idaho town where he grew up, 66 percent of the county was Mormon, and time was marked by the comings and goings of missionaries.

“If you’re a man in the church and you didn’t serve a mission, that immediately raises eyebrows,” Beckstead explains. “Your prospects of getting a mate are linked directly to whether or not you served an honorable mission. A common joke is that the more people you preach the gospel to, the more attractive your future wife will be.”

Even more than mainstream Christianity, Mormonism emphasizes the importance of evangelism. One of Joseph Smith’s revelations in the Doctrine & Covenants , an LDS foundational document, reads, “Ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel [...], declaring my word like unto angels.”

During our interview, Beckstead pulls a laminated card from his pocket. “This is a priesthood line of authority. Jesus gave the priesthood to Peter, James, and John, who gave it to Joseph Smith, who gave it to these guys, and these guys gave it to these guys, all the way down to me. There’s a direct line of authority from Jesus Christ to me. And so I really believed, on my mission, that I was an official, legal representative of Jesus Christ.”

* * *

All missionaries report to one of 15 missionary training centers throughout the world at the start of their mission. The largest training center, in Provo, Utah, stretches several miles alongside BYU and accommodates up to 4,000 missionaries-in-training who are called “Elders” and “Sisters.” For up to 12 weeks, they receive classroom instruction in foreign languages, theology, and conversational strategies, guided by Preach My Gospel , while the Missionary Handbook outlines acceptable language, dress, conduct, tithing, and relationships. Several missionaries described the training center as “boot camp” for its spiritual and emotional “breakdowns” and highlighted its rigorous sixteen-hour schedule—the same hours missionaries keep throughout their time abroad.

“It was like a college dorm with a bunch of clean-cut men that all look the same,” says Timion, the missionary who converted at age 17. “A clone center. They let you know that everything you’ve done is a sin. All these 19-year-old boys and 21-year-old girls feel horrible about themselves, and confess and are forgiven. It was a very, very long, miserable experience that I wouldn’t want to relive.”

The missionary training center is also a missionary’s first experience of companionship—having an assigned companion by your side 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as you dress, bathe, study, eat, and sleep. If you want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you have to wake your companion and have him stand guard outside the door. “Your missionary companion is there to keep you on the straight and narrow path, so you don’t let Satan win,” Timion says.

* * *

Russell Beckstead’s older siblings were called to exotic locations, including the Caribbean, northern Europe, and eastern Germany immediately following the fall of the Berlin Wall. “And then I was called to Indiana!” Beckstead laughs.

“In Indiana, there was this line everybody would use. They would say, ‘There’s two things that I don’t talk to anybody about: politics and religion. Now get outta here.’ I heard that line I don’t know how many times.”

Missionaries provide progress numbers to their mission leaders, who in turn report up a hierarchical structure: How many people they talk to, how many copies of the Book of Mormon they distribute, how many baptisms they’ve performed, and so on. All of the missionaries we spoke to mentioned how rare baptisms were, and how much guilt they felt as a result. "You’re like, man, we only talked to four people this whole week. We must be horrible missionaries," Beckstead says. "And they—the assistants, and the zone leaders and the president—they try really hard to convince you that they don’t care about the numbers. They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not about the numbers, elders. It’s not about the numbers … but what are the numbers?!'"

And those numbers were frequently dismal. “The most typical experience was just a door slammed in your face,” Beckstead says. “Somebody sees that you’ve got a nametag on, and you’re in a tie and a white shirt, and the door immediately closes.”

* * *

After the first few months of his mission in England, Adam Ballard*, 19, born and raised in Provo, Utah, began to question if he genuinely believed in the only system of faith he’d ever known. He realized one of his roommates had gone on a mission to escape his abusive father, and that others struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts, and pornography addiction, which Ballard attributed to the church’s repressive stance on sexuality.

Ballard was seeing a mission-appointed counselor for anxiety. “My counselor said, ‘Elder Ballard, you can choose to be yourself and do what you believe in, or you can live a hollow life.’ I don’t think he realized what he was saying. A week later, I called my mission president and told him I was going home.”

Before he could be released, Ballard was ordered to speak to his father, his sister, and his stake president, who acts as the head of several local congregations, or "stakes." He described this as “one of the hardest things in my entire life.”

Ballard phoned his father first. “He’s like, ‘What about when Mom died? What about what you said before you left on your mission?’ And I remember telling him, ‘Dad, I lied, because I wanted to look good.’ I got off the phone and cried for two hours.”

A 2013 study at Utah Valley University found that nearly three quarters of missionaries who return home early experience a deep sense of failure. Ballard served for seven months,and received an honorable discharge for health reasons. Although he’s finding the transition difficult and his home congregation less than receptive, Ballard remains positive about the mission experience overall. “You can ‘life shop.’ You meet thousands of people who’ve lived their lives thousands of ways, people who are doctors, lawyers, janitors, who have children, who don’t have children, who are married, who aren’t married, who’ve never been married. And you can see, like, ‘Oh, that’s how I want to live my life. I want to live my life like that guy.’”

* * *

Scott Horton’s family has been Mormon for several generations. Like many missionaries, he had doubts about his faith, but he wanted to set a good example for his younger brothers, and the scriptures suggested that the mission itself was the best way to strengthen his testimony.

While an estimated 40 percent of returned missionaries become inactive sometime after completing their mission, only 2 percent become apostates, meaning that they request to have their names removed from church rolls, or are formally excommunicated. Scott Horton is among the 2 percent. Looking back, he recalls the moment when “all the lights starting firing” on his mission in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. “In my last area, I went on a regimen of studying the Book of Mormon like crazy, praying like crazy. I got to a point where I was fasting every week, wanting to get an answer. I did that for two or three months. And just nothing.”

Another turning point occurred when Horton stopped a man on the street who was an adherent to the Virgin of Guadalupe. “I said, ‘Oh, that’s really interesting. Why do you follow her?’ And he said, ‘Well, five or six years ago, I didn’t have a job and I was out of money. And I couldn’t stand to be at home and watch my daughters cry over hunger. I was walking down the road, praying, and I had no idea what to do. And I saw a light. I looked into the light and saw the Virgin. She told me that everything would be okay, and that she was looking out for me and would provide for me. And when I looked down, below the light, there was 20 pesos on the ground. I picked it up and bought bread and milk for my daughters. I’ll always remember that, and I will never move away from her.’

“I was dumbfounded. I thanked him for sharing that story with me and let him go on his way. I remember thinking, I have nothing that even compares to something that spiritual, that profound. Who was I to stand out here telling people what to do? You start to recognize how ridiculous it is to put people’s eternal salvation in the hands of 19-year-olds who are viewing it as a competition of who can baptize more people.”

* * *

Russell Beckstead, now in his mid-thirties, remains an active member of the Church. He still accompanies missionaries every week as a model of non-missionary fellowship—what he refers to as “being a normal person.”

Young is uncomfortable with the missionary promise that conversion is a cure-all. “People will talk about how they lost their job, or they have this medical problem, or their wife left them, or their kid is in trouble at school, or their parents are suffering and old. And as a missionary, your mentality is, ‘Okay, pray and read the Book of Mormon. Done.’ And I want to be like, ‘Did you not hear all these other problems?’ I still believe that faith and Jesus Christ gives people power and comfort in their lives. But it’s not going to solve their problems!”

For Beckstead and others, like Ballard and Horton, the most memorable aspect of missionary work was the connections they developed with different kinds of people—and the theological tension these connections raised. “There’s a scripture in the Book of Mormon that says, ‘The natural man is an enemy to God.’ It gets drilled into you that everybody else is secretly miserable because they’re not in the church. As a missionary, it’s your job to share the secret to happiness. And I just found that that wasn’t true. There’s lots of happy people with great lives, just trying to do the best they can.

“Maybe my faith in the institution was shocked, but my faith in humanity was boosted.

BERKELEY, Calif. — It was a gathering that would have been unthinkable just five years ago.

On a cool summer evening, in a borrowed classroom overlooking San Francisco Bay, about 150 men and women gathered to screen a short documentary about a Mormon family whose 13-year-old son came out as gay.

The Montgomerys, who accepted their son and his news, were ostracized by church members, some of whom refused to accept Communion distributed by the young man in church. Like many conservative Christian denominations, the 15 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bans homosexual activity and considers it grounds for exclusion from Mormon rites, rituals and even the afterlife.

But those in the room — mostly Mormons ranging from babes in arms to the elderly with canes — thought differently. They wanted to learn how to support their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brethren in their local wards, or congregations.

“The phrase ‘gay Mormon’ was not part of our vocabulary prior to 2011,” said the evening’s organizer, Mitch Mayne, before the event. “And if we did say it, it was fringe and full of stereotypes, like we were all hiding in the closet and full of self-loathing or we were out of the church entirely and putting on body glitter and Speedos.”

That has since changed — as demonstrated by the standing-room-only crowd that included more than a half-dozen local Mormon officials. Today, many people who identify as both Mormon and LGBT are gaining acceptance within the wider LDS church and culture.

Many credit Mayne, 43, with fostering this change when he became the first publicly gay Mormon executive secretary — a leadership position in service of a bishop — in 2011, a post he held for more than two years in a church that has an all-volunteer, all-male clergy.

The first tool in Mayne’s arsenal? Social media — Facebook, Twitter and the popular blog he started to chronicle his experience as both gay and Mormon.

“Social media has enabled us to coalesce and create informed allies inside the Mormon faith and build the recognition that how we respond to LGBT individuals is everyone’s concern,” Mayne said after the event. “I have great faith in Mormons. They really want this change.”

LGBT Mormons are not the only minority group to harness social media and the Internet. Several other factions have taken to Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere to push back against church norms and a culture they consider unfair, outdated, and, at times, hateful:

* In late-August, Ordain Women organized a Twitter campaign with the hashtag ?equalinfaith. People posted pictures or messages supporting gender equality in the church, including opening the priesthood to women.

* When Kate Kelly was excommunicated from the LDS church earlier this year for her feminist activism, supporters organized a Facebook campaign asking people to wear black ribbons to church as a sign of dissent.

* In 2012, more than 1,500 Mormon women participated in the first “Wear Pants to Church Day,” organized via Facebook. Men were encouraged to wear purple in support. This year’s event is poised to be even larger, organizers say.

These campaigns seem to be prompting responses from the church, if not outright change. In August, the church surveyed about 1,000 randomly selected members to assess their views on a number of subjects, including “the roles, responsibilities or therapy of females in the church.” Two years ago, stung by the backlash from its support of California’s Proposition 8 that banned gay marriage, the church launched a new website exploring the relationship between its LGBT members and the broader church.

“We are starting to see a significant disconnect between what the church is telling people to believe about same-sex marriage and homosexuality and what people actually believe and accept,” said John Gustav-Wrathall, a senior vice president of Affirmation, an independent organization that supports LGBT Mormons and their families.

“I think the Internet has a lot to do with that. LDS people are putting their stories out there, and that is influencing people’s perception.”

Mayne agrees.

“For (church leaders) to put up the website is phenomenal,” he said. “Yes, it has some problems, but the fact that we are even addressing the issue and using the term ‘gay,’ I cannot stress how impactful that is. If you look at the web there is gay Mormon stuff everywhere, and five years ago that wasn’t the case.”

Church officials say their doctrine is guided only by revelation and Scripture, not by popular opinion. “There has been no change whatever in the Church belief that homosexual sex is sinful,” LDS spokesman Eric Hawkins wrote in response to emailed questions. “What has changed — with Church encouragement — is how to respond to those who struggle to stay in the Church and at the same time maintain that doctrinal position.”

Mormons attitudes toward social media are certainly in flux. Last year, Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the church’s second-highest presiding body, warned church members of the persuasive powers of the Internet.

Yet in August, Elder David A. Bednar, also a member of the Quorum, suggested Mormons take to social media “to sweep the Earth as with a flood.”

Feminist Mormons have been among the most active on social media. Nancy Ross, head of Ordain Women’s social media team, said there are at least a dozen multi-author blogs written by and for feminist Mormons and at least as many Facebook groups. Facebook, she said, is where the seeds of change get planted at the local, one-on-one level.

“That is one of the huge things we do on Facebook, is offer a variety of counterarguments when someone says something offensive about women in the church,” she said. “Within two hours, someone is going to have 30 or 40 responses on how to counter that.”

As a moderator of the Facebook page for Feminist Mormon Housewives, the oldest and most popular blog written by feminist Mormons, Jerilyn Hassell Pool has seen the effectiveness of social media firsthand.

A cradle Mormon, Pool has had moments where she’s considered leaving the church. But being able to voice her opinions online and connect with those who share them has kept her in the fold.

“I feel if I stay and continue to raise awareness and raise my voice, I am making my church a better place,” she said. “I am raising the collective conscience of other people on social media, and that makes me feel less complicit in perpetuating these gender stereotypes.”

At the Berkeley meeting, people seemed to be looking for a way to do the same thing with regards to LGBT Mormons. One man, a baby on his lap for most of the evening, asked how he could show LGBT Mormons in his ward that he, a straight man, was supportive. A young woman asked what she could do to reach out to LGBT Mormons who might be in the closet.

Part of the answer to both was “get online.” ‘’The Internet has broken the bonds of silence,” Mayne told the crowd. “Those people and their families are no longer adrift.”

BornAgain2

It’s Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives
11/10/14

Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church’s founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old.

The church’s disclosures, in a series of essays online, are part of an effort to be transparent about its history at a time when church members are increasingly encountering disturbing claims about the faith on the Internet. Many Mormons, especially those with polygamous ancestors, say they were well aware that Smith’s successor, Brigham Young, practiced polygamy when he led the flock in Salt Lake City. But they did not know the full truth about Smith.

“Joseph Smith was presented to me as a practically perfect prophet, and this is true for a lot of people,” said Emily Jensen, a blogger and editor in Farmington, Utah, who often writes about Mormon issues.

She said the reaction of some Mormons to the church’s disclosures resembled the five stages of grief in which the first stage is denial, and the second is anger. Members are saying on blogs and social media, “This is not the church I grew up with, this is not the Joseph Smith I love,” Ms. Jensen said.

Smith probably did not have sexual relations with all of his wives, because some were “sealed” to him only for the next life, according to the essays posted by the church. But for his first wife, Emma, polygamy was “an excruciating ordeal.”

The four treatises on polygamy reflect a new resolve by a church long accused of secrecy to respond with openness to the kind of t**** historical and theological issues that are causing some to become disillusioned or even to abandon the faith.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is formally known, has quietly posted 12 essays on its website over the last year on contentious topics such as the ban on blacks in the priesthood, which was lifted in 1978, and accounts of how Smith translated the Book of Mormon, the church’s sacred scripture.

Elder Steven E. Snow, the church historian and a member of its senior leadership, said in an interview, “There is so much out there on the Internet that we felt we owed our members a safe place where they could go to get reliable, faith-promoting information that was true about some of these more difficult aspects of our history.

“We need to be truthful, and we need to understand our history,” Elder Snow said. “I believe our history is full of stories of faith and devotion and sacrifice, but these people weren’t perfect.”

The essay on “plural marriage” in the early days of the Mormon movement in Ohio and Illinois says polygamy was commanded by God, revealed to Smith and accepted by him and his followers only very reluctantly. Abraham and other Old Testament patriarchs had multiple wives, and Smith preached that his church was the “restoration” of the early, true Christian church.

Most of Smith’s wives were between the ages of 20 and 40, the essay says, but he married Helen Mar Kimball, a daughter of two close friends, “several months before her 15th birthday.” A footnote says that according to “careful estimates,” Smith had 30 to 40 wives.

The biggest bombshell for some in the essays is that Smith married women who were already married, some to men who were Smith’s friends and followers.

The essays held nothing back, said Richard L. Bushman, emeritus professor of history at Columbia University and author of the book “Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.”

Dr. Bushman said of church leaders: “Somewhere along the line they decided they were just going to tell the whole story, not to be defensive, not to try to hide anything. And there’s no single fact that’s more unsettling than Joseph Smith’s marriage to other men’s wives.

“It’s a recognition of maturity,” said Dr. Bushman, who is a Mormon. “There are lots of church leaders who say: ‘We can take anything, just let us know how it really happened. We’re a church that is secure.’ ”

The younger generation of Mormons will benefit from this step, said Samantha Shelley, co-founder of the website MillennialMormons.com in Provo, Utah.

She said she knew of Smith’s polygamous past, but “it’s so easy for people these days to stumble upon something on the Internet, and it rocks their world and they don’t know where to turn.”

In 1890, under pressure by the American government, the church issued a manifesto formally ending polygamy. The church’s essay on this phase admits that some members and even leaders did not abandon the practice for years.

But the church did renounce polygamy, and Mormons who refused to do the same eventually broke away and formed splinter churches, some that still exist. Warren Jeffs, the leader of one such group, was convicted in Texas in 2011 of child sexual assault.

There remains one way in which polygamy is still a part of Mormon belief: The church teaches that a man who was “sealed” in marriage to his wife in a temple ritual, then loses his wife to death or divorce, can be sealed to a second wife and would be married to both wives in the afterlife. However, women who have been divorced or widowed cannot be sealed to more than one man.

Kristine Haglund, the editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, said that while she found the church’s new transparency “really hopeful,” she and other women she had talked with were disturbed that the essays do not address the painful teaching about polygamy in eternity.

“These are real issues for Mormon women,” Ms. Haglund said. “And because the church has never said definitively that polygamy won’t be practiced in heaven, even very devout and quite conservative women are really troubled by it.”

The church historian, Elder Snow, said that the process of writing the essays began in May 2012. Each one was drafted by a scholar, often outside the church history department, then edited by church historians and leaders, and vetted by the church’s top authorities. They may issue one more essay, on women and the priesthood, an issue that has grown increasingly controversial as some Mormon women have mobilized to challenge the male-only priesthood.

The church has not publicly announced the posting of the essays, and many Mormons said in interviews that they were not even aware of them. They are not visible on the church’s home page; finding them requires a search or a link. Elder Snow said he anticipated that the contents would eventually be “woven into future curriculum” for adults and youths.

The church recently released an informational video about the distinctive Mormon underwear called “temple garments” — and it received far more attention among Mormons and in the news media than the essays on polygamy.

Sarah Barringer Gordon, a professor of constitutional law and history at the University of Pennsylvania, and a non-Mormon who has studied the Mormon Church, said it had dealt with transparency about its past before this, addressing Mormon leaders’ complicity in an attack on a wagon train crossing southern Utah in 1857, known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. But she said this recent emphasis on transparency by the church was both unprecedented and smart.

“What you want to do is get out ahead of the problem, and not have someone say, ‘Look at this damaging thing I found that you were trying to keep secret,’ ” she said.

Muslims Slashing Babies’ Heads With Knives As Part of Annual Islamic Ritual

11/8/14

Muslims have been slashing the foreheads of infants and children this week as part of an annual Islamic ritual that seeks to commemorate the death of the grandson of Mohammed.

Online photos that capture images of terrified children and babies provide a glimpse into Muslim traditions surrounding the Day of Ashura, which marks the death of Husyn ibn Ali approximately 1,300 years ago. He was the son of Fatimah, Mohammed’s daughter, and was beheaded during the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.

To remember his death, many Shi’a Muslims observe the Day of Ashura each year, generally in October or November. In countries such as Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan, the observance is considered a national holiday, which to some also is a time when Muslims seeks to shed blood as a means to obtain forgiveness for sins.

In addition to cutting a gash in the forehead of children and babies, some children and adults voluntarily slash their bodies with knives or flagellate themselves with whips in order to reinact the death of Ali. One saying claims, “A single tear shed for Husayn washes away a hundred sins.” Participants are seen in some cities walking the streets with blood staining their clothing and dripping from their head, chest and back.

Leaders within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are speaking more openly about Mormonism's controversial history and teachings.

Even as Mitt Romney's presidential bid drew the national spotlight to Mormonism in 2012, leaders of the nearly 180-year-old religion expressed concern about its future.

"We've never had a period of -- I'll call it apostasy -- like we're having now," Marlin Jensen, an official Mormon historian, told a group of Mormon students in Logan, Utah, according to a Reuters report. In response to one student's question, Jensen admitted that Mormons are leaving the faith "in droves."

Although the LDS church counts nearly 15 million members worldwide, estimates of the religion's overseas retention rate are as low as 25 percent. Only half of the Mormons in the United States are active members, according to Reuters, and some sociologists report only 5 million active members worldwide. Additionally, young Mormons, especially, have begun to question the faith of their fathers.

"The problem for Mormonism is with the use of the Internet and with the persistence of many, many groups that have been very straightforward in promoting what Mormonism really stands for," said R. Philip Roberts, director for international theological education with Global Ministries Foundation in Tennessee who also teaches adjunctively at Truett-McConnell College in Georgia. "They're losing the battle."

LDS leaders have for decades held a posture of silence and secrecy concerning questionable aspects of Mormonism's history, theology and practices, said Roberts, former director of the North American Mission Board's interfaith witness department and former president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"Mormonism has everything to hide because they pretend to be a Christian organization," Roberts said, noting that Mormons often use Christian terms while infusing them with unbiblical meanings.

But now, forced to address criticism widely available on the Internet, LDS leaders have begun -- and only begun --to open up about controversial aspects of their faith. In recent articles posted on the LDS website (www.lds.org), leaders have admitted to Mormonism's historically positive stance toward polygamy and the historical inaccuracy of some of its own scriptures.

Mormonism and polygamy

"Polygamy was a notorious doctrine and practice of the LDS since the time of Joseph Smith," Tal Davis, who has served with NAMB's interfaith witness department, writes in an article posted on the webpage of Marketfaith Ministries, an online worldview ministry with which he now works.

Smith had as many as 40 wives, including a 14-year-old girl and a woman married to another man. Although historians have known about Smith's polygamy for more than a century, LDS leaders have until recently hesitated to admit this reality in a straightforward manner, Davis told Baptist Press.

Mormons aligned with LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City currently promote monogamy alone, in keeping with a canonized "declaration" of LDS President Wilford Woodruff in 1890 to achieve Utah statehood. But in their most recent statement on polygamy, LDS leaders never condemn polygamy, Davis said. Instead, they affirm that God has, in times past, commanded His people to practice polygamy. Smith himself claimed to have received a revelation from God that endorsed polygamy and condemned any who opposed its practice.

But LDS leaders also claim that God commanded biblical characters to practice polygamy. According to NAMB-certified apologist Rob Phillips, director of communications for the Missouri Baptist Convention, this claim is contrary to Scripture.

"It is clear that God's ideal is monogamous, lifelong marriage between a man and a woman," Phillips wrote in a Nov. 12 article on Baptist Press. Additionally, he noted, various passages of Scripture denounce polygamy or warn readers of "the danger of taking multiple wives."

"This is precisely where we have an opportunity to urge our Mormon friends to revisit the Bible, which LDS theology and practice relegate to a back seat behind the Book of Mormon and other church documents," Phillips wrote.

Historicity of Mormon scripture

Recent skepticism about Mormonism also has centered on the historicity of "The Book of Abraham," a section of The Pearl of Great Price, which is one of Mormonism's scriptures.

According to LDS lore, Smith translated The Book of Abraham from an Egyptian papyrus that he bought in the 1840s. For many years, the original Egyptian document was lost but was rediscovered in a museum in the 1960s.

Mormon leaders, in a recent statement on the LDS website, admitted what scholars have claimed since the rediscovery of the Egyptian document -- that Smith's translation in no way resembles what the original Egyptian text says.

Instead of repudiating Smith's Book of Abraham, however, the LDS statement says that the Egyptian document wasn't the textual basis for Smith's translation. Rather, "the physical artifacts provided an occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri," the LDS statement says.

The statement also asserts that The Book of Abraham presents valuable doctrine and "clarifies several teachings that are obscure in the Bible," such as the belief that Jesus Christ "led other spirits in organizing the earth" out of preexisting matter.

'An enormous opportunity'

Roberts said LDS leaders are failing in their attempt to squelch criticism and retain members. But this situation creates an "enormous opportunity" for Southern Baptists "to share the real truth and the real Gospel of Jesus Christ."

"It is important that Mormons hear the truth," Roberts said, "and they need to hear it not from another counterfeit religion, but from people who know the truth."

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah lawmakers introduced a landmark bill Wednesday that bars discrimination against gay and transgender individuals while protecting the rights of religious groups and individuals.

The measure has a rare stamp of approval from the Mormon church and stands a high chance of passing in Utah, where the church is based and many state lawmakers and the Republican governor are members of the faith.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined LGBT-rights activists, bipartisan lawmakers and Utah's Republican lieutenant governor in unveiling the bill at a news conference Wednesday.

"This is a historic day," Equality Utah executive director Troy Williams said. "People from diverse backgrounds have come together to craft what no one thought was possible."

State Sen. Stuart Adams, a Republican who led negotiations on the proposal, said at the news conference that they've found a way to respect the rights of some while not infringing on the rights of others.

"If Utah can do this, my opinion, it can be done anywhere else in the nation," Adams said.

The proposal, which will face its first legislative hurdle at a Thursday hearing, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation when it comes to housing or employment. Religious groups and organizations would be exempt from the requirement, as would Boy Scouts of America, which has a ban on gay adult Scout leaders and has close ties to the LDS Church.

The church said Wednesday it is fully behind the legislation, which follows the principles set out in the faith's recent nationwide call for laws that balance both religious rights and LGBT protections.

"In this approach, we acknowledged that neither side or no party may get all they want," D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said. "It is better if both sides get most of what is desired than to have a winner-take-all where one side loses."

Christofferson said the plan contains strong religious protections and a fair approach to housing and employment.

LGBT activists have spent years pushing for a statewide non-discrimination law in Utah, but their efforts were fast-tracked this year after the Mormon church issued its call for this type of legislation.

Gov. Gary Herbert indicated he supports the measure as well, saying in a statement that the collaboration is a "great example of what makes Utah great."

Democratic state Sen. Jim Dabakis, who was raised Mormon and is openly gay, said local Catholic and Episcopal church officials were also consulted about the proposal but they have not officially endorsed it.

Sen. Steve Urquhart, a St. George Republican who co-sponsored the bill, said the Boy Scouts were not involved in negotiations on the Utah proposal and did not request the exemption. He said the organization was included because of a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing the organization's constitutional right to exclude gay members.

The Boy Scouts now allow openly gay youth.

Boy Scouts of America national spokesman Deron Smith said the organization didn't have any comment on the legislation. Utah Boy Scouts leaders deferred comment to the national organization.

Scouts for Equality, an organization critical of the Scouts' ban on gay leaders, criticized the exemption.

"The fundamental principle of non-discrimination means that there aren't special exemptions," Scouts for Equality executive director Zach Wahls said in a statement. "Non-discrimination means 'non-discrimination,' not 'non-discrimination except for the Boy Scouts.'"

The compromise also attracted criticism from some conservatives.

"It's heavy on protection for special classes of people that I don't believe should be a special class, but it's very light on religious protections," Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative family-values group Utah Eagle Forum.

Ruzicka said the proposal needed more protections for religious individuals to act in accordance with their beliefs.

Beyond banning discrimination based on identity and sexual orientation, the proposal says employers can adopt "reasonable dress and grooming standards" and "reasonable rules and polices" for sex-specific restrooms and other facilities, as long as those standards also include accommodations for gender identity.

It protects the right of an individual employee to express their religious or moral beliefs in "a reasonable, non-disruptive or non-harassing way," as long as it doesn't interfere with the company's business.

It also prohibits employers from firing, demoting or refusing to hire a person for expressing religious or political beliefs about marriage or sexuality unless those beliefs conflict with the company's business interest.

The Mormon campaign pushing for these types of laws is the latest example of a shift in tone by the church. While it has moved away from harsh rhetoric and is preaching compassion and acceptance, the church insists it is making no changes in doctrine and still believes that sex is against the law of God unless it's within a marriage between a man and a woman.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but Mormonism is rooted in evolution too.

CJ

The hero church in Oregon
Belmont Drive Missionary Baptist Church in Hood River, Oregon is not backing down.
It’s marquee sign sitting out front of its building has the absolute TRUTH!
Posted on the board is
Wake up Christians. Allah is not our God.
Muhammad not greater than Jesus.

"It's like choosing between getting shot or poisoned," he said in a back hall of the Utah State Capitol building. "We know that Hillary Clinton is the worst, most horrifying and certainly lethal poison known to man. If we vote for Hillary Clinton, we will die in excruciating agony."

"With Donald Trump, we know we're going to get shot. We just don't know where."

Less than one month out, Thatcher is undecided.

The struggle to accept Trump as the leader of the Republican Party is no more challenging anywhere in America than it is here, where roughly 60% of Utahns are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

For so many, Trump offends their moral compass. Hillary Clinton offends their political compass. They are each, at the same time, the worst person in the world.

"He represents the 1980s ethos of materialism and greed; he is vulgar," said a high-ranking Republican staffer who requested anonymity because he works for many elected officials and didn't want to be seen as speaking for them. "He's filled with self-centered pride, which is modern-day idol worshiping.

"Everything he does is the antithesis of being Mormon."

Institutions line up against Trump
Nowhere in the nation does voters' distaste for both candidates feel as palpable. Voter registration tilts three-to-one in favor of Republicans. Still, the Salt Lake City Tribune endorsed Clinton.

Meanwhile, The Deseret News, a newspaper owned by the LDS church, called for Trump to drop out of the race, adding that it does "not believe Trump holds the ideals and values of this community."

The church strongly denies that the paper's op-ed is the official position of the institution, which remains neutral in political elections, but the message was clear: Mormons might want to think twice about the foul-mouthed real estate mogul.

Utah hasn't voted a Democrat into the White House since 1964, and yet, the Democrat this year is tied for the lead here. Barely half of all voters say they'll vote for either of the major party candidates.

The Kim Jong Un of American politics
A few miles up Route 15 in the quiet hills above the suburb of Bountiful, David Irvine is moving into his condo.

"Donald Trump strikes me as the Kim Jong Un of American politics," the 73-year-old attorney said. "He's volatile, he's temperamental, he is not capable of controlling anger. In that position (president), those seem to me to be vital characteristics."

Irvine looks like a sophomore-year political science professor. His bow tie suits him. He is a lifelong Republican and was once upon a time a county GOP chairman and state lawmaker.

For Irvine, morality trumps politics -- so Clinton trumps Trump.

It's not just Trump's personality that irks the lifelong Utah resident, but the cornerstone position of Trump's campaign -- his hardline stance on immigration -- is a belief that offends Irvine's Mormon heritage.

"The history of Mormons in Utah is one of persecution, one of being hunted down," he said. "That's a long, tragic story."

"There are a lot of people in Utah who are members of the Mormon faith, the Mormon Church, who are undocumented immigrants from who knows where. When Mr. Trump says, 'Deport them all. Build a wall. Tear up families. Kick them out. They're all criminals. They're all rapists. They're terrible, terrible people,' that's a really broad brush that I think most members of the Mormon Church, and many, many other faiths, find to be terribly, terribly offensive."

Morality vs. politics
Who is to say whether moral judgments should take precedence over political ones, or vice-versa? It's two faiths competing. Neither is remotely unimportant; neither can be dismissed.

"The church's own scripture, and teachings from the church leaders would suggest that one of the things that's paramount to consider when you are choosing a candidate is their morality -- their personal morality -- their level of honesty; that they need to be a good person, a good human being," said Quin Monson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University in Provo.

Monson isn't just a professor -- he's Mormon and has voted for Republicans his entire life, a streak that will end on November 8.

"Every time (Trump) chooses to interact publicly, he almost can't help but interact in a way that I think many Mormons, if not most Mormons, would find troubling and antithetical or opposite of who they are, who they are at least taught to be," he said.

Monson will vote for Clinton or for third-party candidate Evan McMullin, who is surging in the polls here, but who is on the ballot in less than a dozen states.

"I'm more confident than ever before that Donald Trump will lose Utah," Monson said.

'I am not electing an ecclesiastical leader'
Kathleen Anderson lives a bit further up in the Bountiful hills from David Irvine. A lifelong Republican as well, she's the president of the Utah Federation of Republican Women.

Unlike Irvine, she has a Trump yard sign -- a new one because the first was vandalized with spray paint.

Anderson's family converted to the LDS church when she was seven years old, and she calls it "a good fit" for her. She's more forgiving of Trump's style and moral compass than other Mormons.

"Donald Trump probably does not espouse all of my values," she said. "However, I am not electing an ecclesiastical leader at this point. I'm electing a leader for this country who can write policies that have gone astray."

Anderson knows other members of her faith are morally repulsed by Trump.

"Some people might find him vulgar, offensive, greedy. Many other qualities that are reprehensible."

But, she said, "I think to hold everyone to the same standard is incorrect and unfair. I was most likely raised with a different set of values than Donald Trump was."

"When we make a mistake, we very much want other people to grant us mercy, or grace, or forgiveness," Anderson said. "When they do, we are so appreciative of that. Yet, it is so easy, it appears, for people to not extend that same grace or mercy, or forgiveness, to someone else who has made a mistake. Rather, we pass this judgment, and I don't think that judgment is always fair."

The agony
Back at the state capitol, Thatcher sounds like he is already in excruciating agony.

"Voting for Hillary Clinton, to my mind, is morally repugnant," he said. "Voting for Donald Trump, in my mind, is morally repugnant. And I am still not sure which one's worse."

(CNN)Ricardo Rosas was the closeted father of six before he came out to his wife -- and, on Tuesday, to the rest of the world.

A third-generation Mormon from Mexico City, Rosas went to church, served a mission and "did everything that was expected" of him.

Still, Rosas, 47, said he felt conflicted and didn't truly understand what was going on.

"For 40 years," Rosas said, "I carried the shame of those feelings... for most of my life I felt very broken."

It wasn't until Rosas started a new job that he discovered the resources he needed in an unlikely place: the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is officially known, in Salt Lake City.

As a creative director for church public affairs, Rosas was tasked with designing the church's latest campaign: a new section of its official website titled "Mormon and Gay."

As the office's attention fixed upon homosexuality, Rosas scrutinized himself. Eventually, he was able to share his sexuality with a colleague who also identified as "same-sex attracted."

"It was liberating," Rosas said.

Rosas said he realized he could be "same-sex attracted," married, and Mormon. Now he and his wife Elizabeth are featured prominently on "Mormon and Gay," discussing how they have grown together as the new materials gave them the tools for "a healthy dialogue."

more

CJ

Mormon church pulls teens from Scouts
May 12, 2017 - Older teenagers will be pulled from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), by the Mormon church. The Mormon church is the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts troops in the United States. The change applies just to the United States and Canada,
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05...eens-from-boy-scouts-america.html